





Book Oi £ 
Copyright N? P_ 


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FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


OR THE BOY BUCCANEER 
























♦ 















Frontispiece — For Prey and Spoils. 

“AND SO THIS IS YOUR NEPHEW, CAPTAIN BRABAZON ? ” 

See p. 37. 


For Prey and Spoils 


OR THE BOY BUCCANEER 


Frederick A. Ober 


Author of “TOMMY FOSTER’S ADVENTURES/’ 
“MONTEZUMA’S GOLD MINES,” etc. 


with Illustrations by 

REGINALD B. BIRCH 



HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA 




THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 
Two CcjPIbtJ Received 

OCT. 13 1902 

f\ CoPVRIOHT ENTRY 

CLASS U* XXo. No. 

3 S V 3 3 

COPY 8. 


Copyright, 1902, by Henry Altemus. 


c • • .• * 



C £« 




INTRODUCTORY 


I T was Mr. Ober’s intimate acquaintance with 
the West Indies that captivated the aged 
custodian of the Castillo del Mar, and caused 
him to entrust to the American the original 
manuscript from which the following story has 
been evolved. c ~ 

The heart of the Spaniard warmed to his 
chance acquaintance. He insisted upon his 
lodging in the castle; and one night, after the 
evening repast was ended, he drew forth from a 
chest in a remote corner of the banquet-hall two 
bundles of papers. 

“Here, seiior,” he said, “are manuscripts that 
came down to me from an ancestor who visited 
the West Indies in the early period of Spanish 
colonization in the Americas. They are in a 
foreign language, and there lingers a tradition 
in our family declaring that whosoever shall first 
translate them shall become their possessor. 
Although valuable — so runs the tradition — no 
man of our line has yet been able to read them. 
In the providence of God it would seem that 
(vii) 


INTRODUCTORY 


thou art the man, and that I, the last of my 
family, am to receive the knowledge of what 
they contain.” 

The papers were found to comprise two separate 
stories of adventure, written in the quaint Eng- 
lish of more than two hundred years ago. They 
were entitled “Humphrey Gilbert: his Adven- 
tures in Youth ” and “His Adventures in ye 
latter Period of his Life.” The first named is 
herewith presented under the title of “For Prey 
and Spoils, or the Boy Buccaneer.” 

The manuscripts could not have fallen into 
better hands. Mr. Ober is the best living au- 
thority on Spanish America, and has been a 
daring and adventurous traveler. Every island 
bathed in the “eternal Carib summer” is famil- 
iar to him, and he has repeatedly visited the 
haunts of the swashbuckling freebooters of whom 
he now writes. 

Mr. Ober’s book is a distinct contribution to 
literature. He has written it in the sinewy 
style that boys like. He sprays them with 
buccaneering activities, adventures and hair- 
breadth escapes, until the most exacting of his 
readers cannot fail to be satisfied. 

The Publishers. 

(viii) 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. The Sea King’s Home 

II. Captured by the Corsairs .... 

III. About the Duel that I Fought 

IV. In Pirates’ Paradise 

V. How we Beheaded the Hydra . 

VI. Feeding the Sharks at Tortuga . 

VII. Buccaneers Mansvelt and Morgan . 

VIII. The Cave in the Cliffs 

IX. The Oldest Buccaneer Alive . . . . 

X. How the White Slave Purchased his Freedom 

XI. The Brethren of the Sea . 

XII. How a Fair Maiden was Rescued 

XIII. The Spanish Don and his Daughter 

XIV. Now Forth for Prey and Spoils 

XV. The Capture of Puerto Bello 

XVI. Storming the Castle and Convew . 

XVII. How a Roof was Burned Over Our Heads 
XVIII. Our Refuge in the Dungeons of the Dead . 

XIX. A Voyage on a Gold-laden Galleon . 

XX. What the Fire-raft Did at Maracaibo . 


XXI. A Fight to the Finish for Honor 

XXII. The Revenge of the Lake-dwellers 
XXIII. What Befell the Murderous Buccaneers . 
XXIV. Better to Die A-fighting than be Hanged 

(ix) 


PACK 

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I2 7 

141 

155 

173 

187 

201 

215 

229 

243 

2 57 

271 

285 

299 

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335 

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ILLUSTRATIONS 


“ 4 And so this is your nephew, Captain 

Brabazon ’ ” ... ... Frontispiece 

44 My uncle lopped off the head of the pirate ” facing page 74 

“ Morgan said all this without rising from the 

hammock” “ 102 

44 ‘Here, dog’s son,’ he snarled ” . . 44 2 06 

44 4 The man of blood shall die ’ ”... 44 2 38 

44 He held his candle high ” .... 44 2 58 

44 The Indians let fly a cloud of arrows ” . 44 318 

44 We cast them a rope ” .... 44 3 66 























































I 








FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


CHAPTER I 
THE SEA-KINGS’ HOME 

M AYHAP it matters not where I was born, 
for now it concerns me most where I 
shall die ; but still, since my tale must 
have a beginning, let me state that my eyes first 
opened to the light in an English manor-house, 
on the right bank of the river Dart, in Devon- 
shire. The fair farm itself had come down 
through many generations to my father, who, 
dying when I was an infant, left it to my elder 
brother, as by right indeed he should have done. 

But the estate being poor of soil, though beau- 
teous of aspect withal, fell short of affording 
support to us all, e’en though there were but 
*5 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


few, to wit — my mother, my elder brother, his 
wife and babe, and myself. Perhaps it were 
better to say that the chief difficulty lay in pro- 
viding meet employment for myself as I grew 
old enough to work with my hands, for my 
mother, though poor, was yet ambitious that I 
should do something better than labor on a 
farm. So it fell out that when, on or near my 
fifteenth birthday, my mother’s brother, a mar- 
iner engaged in trade with the Indies, proposed 
to take me out with him as a cabin-boy, he found 
not so much opposition as he had expected. For 
my dear mother, more thoughtful for my future 
than I, looked forward to the time when I 
should return perchance with a fortune, and thus 
be able to spend the remainder of our days each 
in the other’s company. Careless was I of the 
future, yet my uncle’s offer seemed to me like a 
golden opportunity, and I grasped at it eagerly. 

Aside from the promise in it of great adven- 
ture, and perchance of profit in the end, there 
was that in the opportunity which appealed to 
16 


THE SEA-KINGS’ HOME 


my romantic nature, for in my veins coursed the 
blood of the sea-kings of Devon. The sea air 
had always been my breath and the sea-salt was 
in the wood we burned on our hearth. And 
besides, were not all the traditions of Devon- 
shire smacking of the sea, of the great oceans 
which had been found and crossed by our 
mariners? Was not the greatest of sea-kings, 
Sir Francis Drake, a son of old Devon, and Sir 
John Hawkins ( though I admired not his life 
so much as that of Drake, the sea-scourge of the 
Spaniards), and that knight of purest faith, Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert — yes, and Walter Raleigh 
and Blake ? And had not my mother once 
taken me to see the Plymouth Hoe, where Drake, 
and Howard, and those other commanders who 
drove the Spanish armada to destruction, whiled 
away their time of waiting playing at bowls ? 

And my grandsire, who died but a few years 
before this time of which I tell, had himself 
seen, with his own eyes, despairing Raleigh return 
from his last American voyage in the “ Destiny,” 
17 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


enter the harbor of Plymouth, and thence depart 
for London and for the Tower, where he was be- 
headed. Despairing he was, my grandsire said, 
yet high-hearted and even gay of demeanor, 
when he landed at the mole ; as when, later, 
reproved for his seeming levity, he saith : “ It is 
my last mirth in this world ; begrudge it not to 
me ! ” 

When I spake of these worthies to my dear 
mother, and said it seemed more fit to live like 
them, even to die like Sir Walter, than to bur- 
row in the earth like a mole, she did not say 
me nay. She smiled, e’en though through her 
tears, and saith to me : “ Yea, my son, and, per- 
chance, you may remember that my father, your 
grandsire, also saw that band of noble men and 
women depart from Devon Port for America in 
the ‘Mayflower/ and saw them not only, but 
kissed their hands at the parting. For he himself 
was always prone to go to that land, America, 
to which, in the year 1620 , sailed those seekers 
1 8 


THE SEA-KINGS’ HOME 


for religious freedom, leaving behind them their 
most dear homes and friends.” 

Sweet voice my sainted mother had, but she 
was chary of words ; and her beauty was of that 
sort that made men turn and look at her when 
she passed. To me it was the beauty of angels ; 
to me her voice seemed no less than heavenly 
music; and have I not heard it many, many 
times in the years that have passed, warning, 
beseeching when I was sore beset by peril and 
temptation ? Ah, me, yes ; but in imagination 
only, and in dreams ; for since I sailed forth 
from the Dart’s Mouth, in the year 1668 — my 
mother having yielded her love to her judgment, 
as she then had light — I have never heard her 
voice, in sooth, nor looked upon her face. She 
clung to me, weeping, and strained me to her 
breast full oft in those last few days we had 
together ; but, at the end, when my uncle came 
for me and his men took my sailor’s chest to the 
pinnace at the shore, she sent me forth most 
bravely. “ F orget not, love,” she said, “ to always 
19 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


hold thy God and thy mother in remembrance. 
I believe, with Devons sainted son, that we are 
as near to heaven by sea as by land.” And 
thus, with her kiss warm upon my lips, and with 
the last words of my great namesake, likewise 
the last I ever heard her speak, I, Humphrey 
Gilbert, fared forth to seek my fortune in the 
Indies. 

The slopes and terraces of the Port faded from 
view late in the afternoon, and by nightfall we 
were far off from shore, making out for the open 
sea. Nothing occurred to interrupt the steady 
sailing of our vessel on her course — nothing but 
occasional squalls and head winds ; for the 
“ Nancy” was a good ship and staunch, built 
expressly for the long vovages to and fro be- 
tween Plymouth and Barbadoes, in the West 
Indies, to which latter port we were destined. 
But, while man proposeth, the God of all dis- 
poseth, the proverb sayeth, the truth of which 
we were perforce to prove. For, while we thought 
we were destined for the Barbadoes, my uncle 


20 


THE SEA-KINGS’ HOME 


having already sailed several voyages thither, 
the fates had in store for us something quite 
otherwise, as soon will appear. 

In the hold of* the “ Nancy” was great store 
of mixed goods for traffic with the natives of the 
Leeward Isles ; perchance, we should meet up 
with them, and in her treasure tank, just off the 
cabin, where my uncle, the master, the mate and 
myself had our quarters when below, was the 
sum of fifty thousand pounds in silver and gold, 
for the purpose of buying sugar and molasses 
from the planters of the Barbadoes. It was not 
generally known to the crew that this treasure 
was aboard, though all may have surmised it 
from the very fact of the voyage being made. If, 
however, any knew of it, they kept close with the 
information, not bruiting it about. 

The crew was composed of Devon men and 
boys, some going out, like myself, in the hope 
of mending their fortune, and others being mere 
sailors who made their bread by seafaring toil. 
All told, they were about sixteen in number, in- 


21 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


eluding four apprentices, or, in plain truth, slaves, 
who were being transported to the islands under 
lifelong indentures for some petty crimes they 
had committed. They may have been under 
false accusation, or may have done all that was 
imputed to them; I troubled not myself about 
them; in which I often thought afterwards I 
was wrong, for I should have given them of my 
sympathy, if nothing more. This reflection arose 
from the fact that not long after I was myself 
in their condition — a slave, though not owing to 
any crime I had committed — and then I felt the 
need and craving for human sympathy, but when 
too late. 

My uncle was kind ; the work I had assigned 
me was light, and the days passed pleasantly, ex- 
cept that constantly I was thinking of my 
mother, which thoughts were gladsome in them- 
selves, but also saddening. Nothing occurred to 
vary the monotony of the voyage for weeks, not 
even a sail rose against the horizon, until I felt 
that anything were welcome, even a hurricane, 


22 


THE SEA KINGS’ HOME 


for the sake of a change. This shows the 
foolishness contained in the heart of a youth of 
fifteen, for, while my uncle, the master, was 
content that nothing untoward happened, I was 
craving some excitement. 

“ Nay, nay,” he was wont to say, with a shake 
of his gray head, “let well enough alone. I 
want nothing but fair winds — which we have 
in the main, and fair fortune, which may the 
good God grant us — to escape the pirates of the 
Main.” 

We were then down near the latitude of the 
northern West Indies, and in waters which the 
king of Spain had long claimed as exclusively 
his own. Near one hundred and eighty years 
before Don Christopher Columbus had discovered 
this portion of the world, sailing in vessels fur- 
nished by the Spanish crown, and ever since the 
Spaniards had held that almost all the Western 
hemisphere belonged to them. The king of 
France, and after him the king of England, 
had in effect asked the king of Spain to show 

2 — For Prey and Spoils. 2 2 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


them the title-deeds he had received to all these 
seas, lands and peoples from our common father, 
Adam. He could not, of course ; so now it was a 
question of which could seize and hold the most 
of sea and shore. 

As the king of Spain was most strongly in- 
trenched in the places conquered in former times 
by the Spanish soldiers, and held ever since, there 
was little to do, my uncle said, but prey upon his 
commerce. This our brave privateers, like Haw- 
kins, Davis, Drake and Raleigh, had done in 
the last century ; but we all know the end of Sir 
Walter, who lost his head because King James 
would not answer to the Spanish crown for his 
deeds. It was easier to take off Raleigh’s head 
than to pay for his privateering, my uncle said, 
and he was very well informed in state affairs. 

After which, finding that the king of Spain 
grew more exacting as his commerce increased, 
and that all the heads of all the noblemen in 
England would not satisfy his thirst for blood, 
our British merchant mariners took matters into 


24 


THE SEA-KINGS’ HOME 


their own hands and worried his Spanish majesty 
until he fell sick with fear. Not alone English, 
but Dutch and French seafarers took out letters 
of marque and privateering against the hated 
flag of Spain. 

“That was all very well, ,, said my uncle, “so 
long as the privateers confined their attentions 
to the Jack Spaniards; but of late some of them 
have in effect run up the black flag, and are doing 
nothing more nor less than piracy. Even the 
4 blood and bones’ of old Britain will not save 
us, perad venture one of those rascally French- 
men or Dutchmen gets a squint at us before we 
make port and swap our gold and silver for 
freight that is not so easily handled. Methinks 
it would have been better if I had taken my 
gold to the Guinea coast, there exchanged it for 
a cargo of lusty blackamoors, and then have 
come to the Barbadoes for my sweets. Then 
there would have been no gold to tempt the 
pirates, and I fancy we might escape their 
clutches.” 


25 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Might escape ! ” I exclaimed. “ Why, is 
there any doubt — any danger ? ” This conver- 
sation occurred one day when we were within 
four or five days’ sail of the Barbadoes, which 
we might even then have reached had we not 
borne a more northerly course for the Leeward 
Islands. 

“ Yes, there is not only doubt of our being 
able to escape the pirates, but there is danger,” 
rejoined the bluff old sailor. “ You see, Hum- 
phrey, we have n’t a gun aboard, not even a demi 
culverin, and, though I have a Briton’s distaste 
for surrender, and would rather fight than run, 
there is no alternative.” 

“ But why do either ? ” I asked, in amazement. 

For answer my uncle handed me his telescopic 
glass, which, treasuring as the apple of his eye, 
he rarely allowed anyone but himself to use. 
“ Sweep her down near the horizon in the no’th- 
east,” he whispered, so that none of the crew 
could overhear him. “ See that fellow hull down 
in the distance : a frigate, near as I can make 
26 


THE SEA-KINGS’ HOME 


out. He has been following us for the last three 
days, and to-morrow I expect him to catch up. 
He might have done it two days ago ; but so long 
as we are going his way, like a hare towards the 
fox’s den, he won’t overhaul us. If he will give 
me only two days more, we can make Saint 
Kitts, and then I ’ll snap my fingers in his face. 
But he won’t. No ” — in answer to my question- 
ing look — “ he ’s a French privateer, a fast one, 
and can make better time than our ‘Nancy.’ ” 

And the next day, surely as dawn broke, the 
frigate was within hail, with a Long Tom trained 
to rake us at a shift of the helm, and fifty or 
more villainous cutthroats crowded against the 
lee rail ready to board, should it come to close 
quarters. 

I entertained hard thoughts of my uncle for 
allowing that French corsair to take us without 
a fight, as he did ; but time showed that it was 
not from lack of spirit, but in furtherance of a 
deep-laid scheme. The mate was ready to take 
him by the throat, and the crew growled them- 
27 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


selves hoarse ; but of what use ? A few muskets 
and arquebuses formed our total armament, to- 
gether with some pistols and cutlasses ; and what 
were these against that corsair’s grinning row of 
portholes and grim cannon, let alone his decks 
swarming with bloodthirsty pirates armed to 
the teeth ? 

28 


CHAPTER II 
CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 

W E were going quite slowly, for the morn- 
ing breeze in those seas is but mild, 
sometimes dying away altogether soon 
after the dawn of day, and, in accordance with 
orders trumpeted from the frigate by a lusty 
bo’sen, we came up in the wind and held our 
vessel steady. 

“ Send a boat aboard,” shouted the big, 
be whiskered pirate, speaking in French, which 
my uncle well understood. 

“ Aye, aye, sir,” shouted back our master, also 
in French. But there was great delay in getting 
our boat over the side, not only from the manner 
in which it was secured to the davits, but also 
owing to the reluctance of our men, who were in 
29 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


sooth sullen and seemed like to mutiny. They 
were of an independent turn, at best, for some of 
them knew as well as my uncle how to handle 
a ship, and had only taken passage under him 
perforce of poverty, brought on belike by drink, 
which is the curse of seafarers the world over. 

So, albeit they made a great to do about the 
launching of the boat, with a “yo heave ho,” 
and a “ hearty, now my hearties/’ and such like, 
they made such slow progress that the pirate cap- 
tain became impatient. In sooth, he showed in- 
dubitable signs of his wrath by sending a cannon 
ball skipping but a few yards ahead of our good 
old “ Nancy’s ” nose ; and the puff of smoke, 
accompanied by the cataract of water that leaped 
aboard right merrily, showed what it well be- 
hooved our men to do. They needed no second 
warning, my faith ! but with alacrity tumbled 
the boat into the water, and themselves eftsoon 
right after it ; that is, enough of them to man 
the oars, the which they had no sooner taken 
up and shipped than our mate, at a word from 
3 ° 


CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 


the master, went also over the side and seated 
himself in the sheets to steer. He had a scowl 
on his face, as indeed had every man who sat 
there facing him and awaiting the word to shove 
off, which was not long delayed. 

There were no orders, as between master and 
mate, for it was well understood that this was to 
he a clean breast and no favor. Our papers 
were straight enough, showing our port of de- 
parture and port of destination, also our intent, 
which was to trade with Britons in a British 
island. But when, the boat having arrived at 
the frigate’s side, and said papers having been 
handed up for the pirate chief’s inspection, that 
fierce man stamped and swore and flourished oft 
his arms about. Then, holding up said papers 
so that we on the ship could see the nefarious 
act, he tore them in twain, and threw them over- 
board. 

My uncle saw it all, for he stood on the poop 
in plain sight. And sooth, he was a majestic 
figure of a man, with his six feet four of stature, 
31 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


and his gray beard flowing e’en most to his waist. 
His face was set and stern, his eyes blazing, but 
he said no word aloud ; though, being near him, 
I heard him mutter in his beard : “ By the 

king, they shall rue this day and this trans- 
action ! That buccaneer shall hang for this ! ” 
This might seem but mere bravado to one 
who knew not my uncle ; and, though I was 
puzzled to account for his apparent cowardice in 
giving up our ship without e’en a show of fight, 
I felt in my soul that he would some time make 
good his oath, as muttered in his beard to him- 
self ; but at that moment there was that within me 
which made me almost loathe him for his pusil- 
lanimity, as it seemed to me ; though later events 
showed well what were his motives in allowing 
our ship to be taken and the pirate chief to 
insult his majesty the King by thus casting con- 
tempt upon official papers with his seal. I fell 
to trembling with the rage and indignation 
within me, for it seemed to me far better to die 
fighting than to suffer indignities at the hands 
3 2 


CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 


of the foreign pirates. I bethought me of my 
ancestry, and of what Devon’s sons had done to 
the like of this foreigner ; yea, of what this very 
man, my mother’s own brother in blood, and of 
yore a doughty fighter, had himself performed 
at sea. It may seem incredible to relate, but 
my uncle Brabazon had himself fought his ship 
when on fire to the water’s edge, in Blake’s 
glorious battle with the Spaniards off Teneriffe, 
in 1657, and brought about the great victory for 
which his admiral received glory and renown. 
He was with him, too, when he was borne dying 
home to Plymouth Port. 

But now, to suffer us to be taken, like rafs in 
a trap, and perchance to jeopardize our lives 
through lack of bravery ! He had a hand on 
my shoulder; but as these thoughts surged 
through me I shook it off as it had been a ser- 
pent, and, swinging round in front of him, was 
about to speak my mind, had I died for it. But, 
ere I opened my mouth, he looked at me so 
sternly, yet with such a deep tenderness in his 
33 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


eyes, that I gazed in wonder — wonder at him for 
his behavior and at myself for my hesitation. 

“I know what thou wouldst say, son Hum-, 
phrey,” thus he began. “ But stay thy im- 
petuous spirit, for thou art wrong, albeit this 
may seem to thee unaccountable. In the end 
thou wilt not blame thy uncle for this. More 
now I cannot say. But wait, have faith in me.” 

I had promised my dear mother to be guided 
by my uncle in all things and to yield him obe- 
dience, as I should to my father, were he yet 
alive ; but it went hard against the grain to abide 
by my promise. We stood, as it were, measur- 
ing each the other’s mettle, and the gaze of 
neither flinched. Then he spake again : “ Son 

Humphrey, thou knowest I would not willingly 
allow harm to come to my sister’s son, not to 
make mention of these others entrusted to my 
keeping. But hist ! here comes the pirates’ boat 
to search the ship. Go thou below and transfer 
thy most precious belongings to the dunnage 
sack, for we may have to move ! ” 

34 


CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 


He spake lightly, with seeming unconcern ; 
and, still having faith in him, I obeyed his 
orders. The few sailors left aboard had already 
improved their time likewise, and when the rat- 
tle of ropes and clatter of cutlasses proclaimed 
the arrival of visitors on deck every man was 
ready to depart. 

I had lingered over the treasures in the chest 
that my mother had so lovingly packed for me, 
fondling the little mementoes that she had 
slipped in between my clothes, and at the sight of 
which the tears would come, in spite of me. 
But the heavy tramp of many feet on deck and 
the shouts and cursings of the new arrivals 
hurried me along, and, brushing the tears from 
my cheeks, I tied the sack’s mouth, cast it 
beneath my bunk, and hastened up the gangway. 

I was somewhat prepared for the sight that 
met my eyes, but not wholly ; though I had 
heard tales ofttimes of these “ Brethren of the 
Sea” from my uncle and others. The dread 
reality far surpassed all I hah heard or imagined, 
35 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


and I can hardly express my horror and surprise 
at sight of the ruffian crew that greeted me as my 
head appeared above the hatch. They were 
about a dozen in number, all but one bare of 
foot and half naked, with shaggy, unkempt heads 
of shock hair, bushy beards tangled and scrag- 
gly, coarse features, and some of them bearing 
livid scars across cheek or brow. Their garbs 
were most fantastic, consisting, for the body, of 
a coarse shirt, open at the throat and belted 
around the waist, either with a broad leathern 
band or length of rope, into which was stuck a 
frightful array of knives, pistols and cutlasses. 
This waist belt kept up the trousers, which, of 
every kind of cut and fashion, on some were 
in tatters below the knee and on others mere 
apologies for raiment. Their hands were broad 
and brawny, their legs and chests, where ex- 
posed, were covered with coarse hair, and grimy 
from neglect of ablution. 

There was one exception, in the person of the 
leader of this swashbuckler crew — for so I took 
3 6 


CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 


him to be the moment I saw him — who was dressed 
with care. He was a man of forty years, or 
thereabouts — slender, of average height, clad in 
the uniform of a French captain of the line. 
Had it not been for a sardonic smile that ever 
played around his neatly chiselled lips, and the 
sinister flashing of his eyes, black as sloes and 
with the divel’s light therein, he might eke have 
passed as handsome. He was girded about like 
the rest, with pistols thrust into a belt with silver 
clasps, and on each hip a curving cutlass like to 
a Moslem cimetar. 

He checked the ribald speeches with which 
his men had greeted (and, I must confess, 
affrighted) me, and, bowing low, advanced with 
proffered hand. “And so this is your nephew, 
Captain Brabazon ? ” he said, half turning his 
head, but still advancing with his hand out- 
stretched. “ I am glad to make his acquaintance. 
A fine young man ; he — he will soon learn better 
manners, I venture to say ! ” 

This was said in French, which I understood 


37 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


very well; and I also understood, from the dia- 
bolic smile that flickered into his eyes and 
around his whiskered lips, that my bearing had 
offended him. For, carried away by the thought 
that this man was responsible for our capture — 
our captor, in very fact — and pursued his ne- 
farious calling from choice, I could not bring 
myself to take his hand. Take the hand of a 
pirate, and, perchance, a murderer? Never! 
never ! I would choose to die first ! And die, in 
sooth, I thought I must, right then and there, 
for hoarse mutterings went up from the throats 
of his bodyguard, and several of them drew their 
cutlasses and made at me. But, though he still 
smiled, in that awful, divelish way, he waved 
them back with a gesture of command that they 
obeyed instanter, then delivered himself of the 
remark with which, as stated, he finished his 
speech : “ He will soon learn better manners, I 
venture to say ! ” 

Then he turned to my uncle : “ Captain Bra- 
bazon, that is a fine youth, but a bit brusque, 
33 


CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 


don’t you think ? A little polishing might do 
him good. Suppose we say, for instance, keel- 
hauling ! After one has been keelhauled, as you 
know, he is a different man entirely. Then, if 
he survives that, we will put him through his 
paces by making him walk the plank. Not to 
make him walk very far, you know, only from 
the gunwale to the end of the plank, where a 
misstep sends him into the water, and then — 
well, then, I suppose, sharks! Wouldst prefer 
the sharks’ company to mine, young man? Thou 
hast choice, now. Speak, quickly. Either thou 
wilt enlist under me on yonder frigate, or over- 
board thou goest ! ” 

I do not know if I were brave or rash. To 
be brave is to sell one’s life most dearly, daring 
all things, heeding conscience only and honor. 
Perhaps I was heeding only stubborn pride, 
making a punctilio of my detestation of such 
creatures as these, dead to honor and sordid in 
sin. No ! If that were rashness merely, then 
knew I not the germ of honesty ! I looked at my 

3 — For Prey and Spoils. 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


uncle, but not in appeal. My heart sank when 
I thought upon his seeming baseness; but, in a 
dazed way, I felt curious to see what he would 
advise me to do. Not that I would follow his ad- 
vice were it to kneel to the pirate and crave his 
pardon. I could well spurn one of my kin for that 
advice. But, no. He was apparently more dis- 
tressed than was I. He plucked his beard and 
clenched his right hand as, with dry lips and 
husky voice, he said: “Come, Captain Mans- 
velt, do not jest with the youth. Consider, he is 
but scant fifteen, and this is his first experience 
at sea. He hath shown pride, I grant, and stub- 
bornness ; but pardon him.” 

Mansvelt! Then this was the most atrocious 
monster that ever sailed the sea: the Nero of the 
ocean. His infamies had made him conspicuous 
even among the men whose crimes had surpassed 
those of the Spanish conquerors of America. 
He saw me start, perhaps thought I shuddered, 
and mistook me for a craven. 

“ Ha, hast heard the name before, young man? 

40 


CAPTURED BY CORSAIRS 


Thou knowest, then, from what I have done, 
what I can, and belike will, do ? No, Captain 
Brabazon, I am not jesting with the youth. 
But I will pardon him if he will kneel and 
kiss my hand. Down, dog, and fawn upon thy 
master ! ” 

I answered not the wretch, nor did I make 
a move to do as he commanded. My faith ! I 
could not have done so had the king himself 
been in his place. Something within me kept 
me rigid, erect, my gaze fixedly set on his, which 
now became shifty and uneasy. 

“So?” he snarled. “You defy me, Mans- 
velt, whom to know is either to serve or to detest. 
Ho, there ! Trice this rascal to the rigging. 
First hamstring him, and try if his knees will 
bend ! But, no, stay ” — as several burly ruffians 
sprang forth to do his bidding — “I have abetter 
plan. Hold him the while I work it out.” 

41 





CHAPTER III 

THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 

M Y condition then seemed forlorn, indeed; 

but my salvation came from what to 
many would have appeared an untoward 
circumstance : to wit, my yielding to a passion 
that suddenly possessed me. For, when the 
pirate that was nearest to me laid hands upon 
my shoulder, he loosened from the chain by 
which it hung about my neck a portrait of my 
mother, which burst from the leathern case in 
which it was contained and fell upon the deck. 
I had promised her to always carry it about me 
and to look upon it at least once each day, lest, 
as she said, I might forget her. It was a minia- 
ture, painted by one Van Dyck, a famous Flem- 
ing who was once attached to the court of King 
43 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Charles. I have understood that he was ranked 
as among the great masters of the world of art, 
but of that I know not. Only this I know : that 
he had met my mother when she was a maiden, 
for she was a friend of his English wife, Mistress 
Buthven, granddaughter of the Earl of Gowrie, 
whom the painter married but a few years before 
his death. Be this as it may, he painted the 
miniature of my mother on ivory, from very love 
of her beauty, he most gallantly said to her, and 
then gave it to her as a gift. Meeting my father 
soon after, she was married, and, of course, bade 
farewell to the gay life of courts. It was the 
most precious of her keepsakes, and she had given 
it to me more as such than (as she had said in 
playful jest) to remind me of her existence. 

From all this may not appear the reason why 
I burst into a passion. But heed : as it fell to 
the deck, the coarse fellow sprang and seized it 
before I could reclaim it, and then held it up for 
those other villains to see. And, as if that were 
not enough of insult to bestow upon the fair coun- 
44 


THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 


tenance of my dear mother, he passed a ribald 
jest as to its great beauty, and said that I was 
full young to carry a woman’s portrait concealed 
about me. It may be supposed that I was at first 
struck dumb with rage and anguish, that this 
should have happened to my most prized posses- 
sion. It seemed, in sooth, a sacrilege most great 
that my mother’s face should have been even 
gazed upon by those wretches, much the more 
that it should have provoked unseemly remark. 

Perhaps it was wrong ; but who knows ? I 
reasoned not as to the consequences, only took 
notice of the great offence. In my wrath, I saw 
naught but that precious portrait and the one 
who held it at arm’s length for the jeering pirates 
to gaze at withal. Yes, I saw one thing else : I 
saw the hilt of Mansvelt’s cimitar hanging loose 
from his belt, and, snatching it with almost light- 
ning-like rapidity from its scabbard, I sprang 
upon the one who had ravished me of my keep- 
sake. He was, of course, taken by surprise, and 
well it was perchance for me, as he was a lusty 
45 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


sailor, broad of shoulder and powerful of limb. 
But of liis build I took scant notice, only seeing 
him, as it were, in a mist; that dearest face in all 
the world gazing at me appealingly as he held it 
in his uncoutfy fingers. 

Well, again, was it that his first motion was 
to pass the portrait to a comrade before rallying 
to my attack, by the which I caught him a gash 
on the shoulder ere he could parry my swift 
blow. He howled with rage and pain, but, when 
the blood gushed forth, was quick enough to see 
that though a mere youth I had strength enough 
in my wrist. He pulled his cutlass forth and 
was not slow to get back at me with a swinging 
blow, which I fortunately evaded by stepping to 
one side. 

I really believe I was mad, with a madness of 
divels, perhaps, but at the same time in my 
senses sufficiently to make my madness profit 
me. Never was my sense more keen ; never my 
strength more concentrated in my arms and at 
points where it would best avail me in this crisis 
46 


THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 


of my life. As the clumsy cutlass swept by me 
I made another thrust, and this time pricked 
him in the side, so that he yelled again, and with 
more pain than rage. For it was plain that 
he had not the courage that syffices for mortal 
combat, or, if he had, it was fast oozing out. 
My desperate onslaught had, in the first place, 
disconcerted him, and, in the second, it had 
driven him to bay. 

Such a brute as he should have taken the offen- 
sive ; and this I knew instinctively, though 
reasoning not upon it. And more, I saw that I 
had the advantage of him in skill, e’en if he had 
more advantage over me in bulk ; and, in my 
heart, I blessed my good father for inculcating 
in me this facility with the blade. It was his 
custom, even when I was a lad — since he died 
before I was twelve — to cultivate in me a love 
for the gentleman’s weapon, as he called the 
sword. 

“ Thou mayest use it some time,” he oft said, 
“ either for thy king or in defense of some lady’s 
47 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


lionor. Then up and at me, child ! ” The bouts 
my revered father and myself had together were, 
so to say, innumerable, for I had a tiny sword as 
soon as I could toddle, and to thrust and parry 
were, as I have said, instinctive in me. To learn 
the sword play is like learning a language: a 
year in youth is better far than many years in 
after life. 

These, then, were the reasons why I had the 
man at an advantage. God knows, I do not 
arrogate aught to myself ; nor am I of a quarrel- 
some disposition. This was the first fight of my 
life; but, as it went on, I could feel the thirst for 
conquest take possession of me, the blood rush 
to my brain, the tightening of the skin of my 
neck at the roots of the hair, and all those signs 
that my whole nature was aroused. So, ascribe 
it not to me or to my prowess, that I gave the 
poor villain more than he could return. 

The fight was not of my seeking, but it soon 
became evident that it was my fight — as the sailors 
say. It became so evident to the pirate chief- 
48 


THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 


tain that he fain would have called a halt, 
though the signs were not wanting that he ex- 
ceedingly enjoyed it all the same — as I was after- 
ward told. He called to me, but I was deaf. 
He yelled to my opponent, but he was unable to 
evade my blows and cuts. I followed him about 
the deck; whenever he would fain strike at me 
I cut him sore, either an upper thrust or straight 
out or down, as it seemed to me the best thing at 
the time to do. Ever before my eyes, through it 
all, was the hand that had held my mother’s 
portrait: the only stranger hand that had ever 
enclosed it within its fingers. And in my ears 
sang the words, in my heart surged the im- 
pulse : “ Strike off that hand ! Strike off that 
hand ! ” 

Blame me not — whoever may read these words 
of mine now written many years after that event 
— that I followed the impulse until I had accom- 
plished my dire purpose. 

For I did it. Yes. May the good Lord, who 
alone avengeth, who alone dealeth rewards and 
49 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


punishments, forgive me for my intention ! But 
it was not my sane self that did the deed. 
However, it was done, at the last, and — but I 
anticipate. 

It soon appeared, as I have said, that he had 
no stomach for the fight, and would have evaded 
me were it possible. Urged on, however, by the 
cries of his shipmates, who jibed him that he 
should allow but a stripling to maltreat him 
thus, he exerted all his strength to beat me 
down. But my cimitar played ever and anon 
about him merrily, first taking him at this side, 
then the other, then pricking him in front and 
then — ah, then there came treachery, as I might 
have expected — in sooth, did expect, and was in 
a measure prepared for. 

As he was beating wildly about me with his 
cutlass, striving to cut me about the head, and I 
was warding the blows looking for a chance to 
sever his arm, I felt more than heard stealthy 
footsteps behind me, and knew what was in store 
for me unless I acted quickly. I knew my des- 
50 


THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 


perate circumstance — that was in my favor, as it 
gave me a forlorn hope. I warded his last 
downward blow with the hilt of my cimitar, and 
then, completing the curve of the upward 
stroke by describing a circle, I brought the 
blade’s keen edge across his wrist. 

Waiting not to see what had been accom- 
plished, but knowing it nevertheless, I spun 
around upon my heel and met a burly pirate 
full in the throat with the sword’s edge. He 
had his left hand extended to grasp me by the 
back of the neck, and in his right a needle- 
pointed poniard. Of a truth, it would have 
gone hard with me had he accomplished his 
fell design. But he never knew that he did or 
did not, I trow, for he fell to the deck with a 
groan and lay there, the while his life-blood 
flowing forth. 

For all this may God forgive me. But — as I 
hope for salvation — this act was not of my own 
seeking. My life was given me of God. Was it 
not my duty to defend it? Not that I would be 
5i 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


the judge as between the worth of my life and 
that of the man whom I brought low ; but such 
as my life was, and is, I still hold it as my duty 
to defend it. At all events, I had taken into 
my own hands — rather, into my hands it had 
been thrust, without my seeking — that which it 
hath been forbidden man to do. “ Vengeance is 
mine, I will repay, saith the Lord ! ” 

I do not say but that this saying liauntetli 
me now. 

But, look at me after I had vanquished both 
my opponents : him who had insulted my 
mother, and him who had sought to slay me 
stealthily. I was told afterward that I gazed 
about me fiercely, yet as if stupefied, and still 
held my cimitar as if to meet any other who 
might assail me. But none other came. Prone 
upon the deck lay the twain ; the one appa- 
rently beyond all recall, the other clasping with 
his left hand the dissevered wrist of his right, 
and groaning mightily. 

Hitherto I had said no word, and when reason 


52 


THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 


seemed to return to me I was also silent. But 
I shuddered when the circle of men about me 
opened their mouths and gave forth great shouts, 
as if of acclaim to a victor. And not alone were 
these shouts from some of our own men, but all 
the pirates seemed to join in them as well. 
Then, of a truth, was I confused yet more than 
before, and wondered. 

The first face that appeared plainly to me out 
of the mist was that of the pirate leader, Mans- 
velt. He came forward then, and, bowing low 
to me, said, with affected humbleness: “If the 
vainquer pleaseth, I will now reclaim my cimitar. 
Faith ! it hath never before received such brave 
usage ; and I, Mansvelt, who have worn it many 
years, say so ! ” 

I yielded him his blade, almost without wit of 
what I did, for I was still in maze. But I had 
still that instinctive sense of what was due the 
one who took the cimitar from me — be he pirate 
or be he gentleman — to take it by the blade and 
hand him the hilt. And the first words I spake 
53 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


were to ask his pardon if I had misused it, 
pleading my emergency as the sole excuse; also 
begging him to let me wipe the blood away ere 
he took it from me. 

“Nay, nay,” he said. “Wipe it not away. 
Give me the blade as it is. These were two good 
men of mine whom thou hast placed out of fight; 
but thou didst it bravely, and it shall not be held 
against thee.” 

There was some muttering at this, especially 
from the group that had gathered about the 
fallen ones; but, again, there was a shout of ap- 
proval from the majority of those on board, both 
of the “Nancy’s” crew and the invaders. 

“Yes, hear me, all,” Mansvelt went on, having 
noted what was said. “ This lad is not to be 
baited for this. He is now one of us. I hold 
him of our crew ; and if any one trouble him 
henceforth he shall not alone answer to him — 
and he seems able to care for himself — but to me! 
Hear ye, all ! Now, tumble down below and 
seek out the treasure. Sooth, we have wasted 
54 


THE DUEL THAT I FOUGHT 


more than time enough this morning. Below, 
all ! ” 

It must be said that a cold turn seized me 
when I heard the pirate say I was henceforth to 
be one of his crew, and made as if to protest. 
But, most strange it is to say so, I felt not for 
him the aversion that had at first possessed me. 
I saw — as well as I could see then, in my dazed 
condition — that he was, above all else, and if 
nothing else, eminently fair. For he might 
easily have caused me to be slain for this misad- 
venture, laying it to rashness or to a spirit of 
bravado. But, instead, he had generously grant- 
ed me full absolution, and not only this, but 
had seemed to take joy in what I had done. 
Whatever there may have been in me that gave 
me courage I recognized in him another with a 
kindred quality, and I felt ashamed, then, of 
having by my manner cast contempt upon him 
by refusing his hand when offered me in seem- 
ing friendship. 

I looked into his eyes, and he met my gaze 

4. — For Prey and Spoils. e c 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


squarely and frankly. The same impulse must 
have moved us both, for the next moment he 
held out his hand, which I grasped, as it had 
been the hand of a friend. And indeed, though 
I may be scoffed for saying it, so it seemed to 
me then ; nor was my native perception far 
wrong— then. ~ 

“ Here, lad,” he said, extending the other hand 
in which was the portrait, that one of his men 
had brought him ; “ here is thy picture. May I 
ask who is the fair lady ? ” 

“ My mother, captain. And I thank thee for 
returning me the treasure.” 

“ Thy mother, lad ? Ah, let me look at it, 
prithee. Truly a sweet face, a beauteous face. 
Thou wert right to fight for her, and couldst not 
have done less. It touched thy heart to see her 
misused. I understand. I, too, once had a 
loving mother. But now — alas ! ” 

5 6 


CHAPTER IV 
IN pirates’ paradise 

N OW, was this not a strange situation : to be 
hand in glove with one, and that one a 
pirate, whom I had not known four and 
twenty hours ? He was a foreigner, too, and one 
of whom many sad stories had been told for 
many years as to his fiendishness. But what of 
that? He had signally displayed high qualities 
in his latest dealings with me, and in my soul I 
recognized these things. 

I would have given much to be as sure of my 
uncle’s faith as I was of Mansvelt’s. This was 
another thing strange : that I shrank from my 
uncle with aversion, as holding him responsible 
for what had occurred. I could not, it seems, 
stand off from him, as I could from the pirate 
57 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


leader, and view him with a due perspective. 
He was my mothers brother, and I had reason 
to expect far more of him than of a stranger, but 
had received far less. Yea, he was my own dear 
mother’s brother. That should have caused my 
heart to cleave to him; should it not? But 
though I felt that yearning toward him that our 
relationship would naturally cause, yet I the more 
loathed him for his apparent perfidy. 

Apparent, say I, for his course was later made 
more clear to me, as will appear further on. He 
had made, they told me, as though he would 
have thrown himself between me and the sailor 
when I seemed in dire peril, but I had not 
noticed him, and thought he had stood aloof 
throughout it all. However, in my ignorance, 
I turned my back upon him when he would have 
embraced me, after I had fraternized with Mans- 
velt, and he, biting his lip and gnawing his beard, 
retreated. 

“ Captain Brabazon,” said the pirate chief- 
tain, “ henceforth consider this vessel under the 
58 


IN PIRATES’ PARADISE 


commands of this young man who has shown 
himself worthy of being one of us. For the 
sake of prudence, the treasure I have found I 
will take aboard my ship, but I will leave you 
your men, and you shall follow after us to my 
rendezvous.” 

I thought I detected a gleam of satisfaction, 
even triumph, in my uncle’s eyes, but it was only 
momentary. He received his orders calmly, as- 
sured Mansvelt that he would obey instructions, 
and then asked if he was to command, or his 
nephew, meaning me. 

Mansvelt chuckled and smiled maliciously, 
while his mustachios curled like a cat’s, as he 
replied : “ Oh, as to that, suit yourselves. But 
see to it that you follow close after me, and de- 
viate not even a point from the course hence to 
Tortuga, off the north coast of Haiti. That is 
the rendezvous, as you may not have known.” 

“No, Captain Mansvelt, I knew it not, but I 
know the lay of the island, and can shape a 
course thither easily.” And again there ap- 
59 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


peared that gleam of triumph, or of some secret 
satisfaction he fain would have concealed. 

As I later learned, it was this information that 
he most of all desired, and I heard him mutter 
to himself, after the pirates were all clear of our 
vessel : “ Od zounds, but this alone is worth 
the fifty thousand pounds though the risk is 
great! ” 

The wretches clattered over the side and 
pulled for their frigate, which by now was close 
enough — too close, in fact. Several of the com- 
mon sailors shook their fists at me furtively, and 
drew their hands significantly across their throats, 
when Mansvelt’s back was turned. 

That did not concern me, however, for, if the 
master was my friend, who then was I to fear ? 
This I casually thought, in my ignorance of what 
those fierce men were capable of, and not know- 
ing the comradeship that existed between all 
classes amongst those Brethren of the Sea. I 
was yet to eat the humble pie and rue the day that 
I had lopped off the hand of one of them ! But 
60 


IN PIRATES’ PARADISE 


of all this anon. Under my uncle’s direction 
the vessel wore about and thrust her nose in the 
frigate’s wake, and, under easy sail, we all that 
day kept on, until the fair isle of Saint Kitts was 
left far astern, and finally faded out of sight. 

Long before nightfall the men had washed the 
blood-stains from the deck and removed all traces 
of the fight. But they could not wash away all 
recollections. That morning, at dawn, I was 
care-free and young ; that night, yea, long be- 
fore, I had aged years, and was a man with 
memories. As my uncle took not the slightest 
notice of me, except in mock deference to ask 
what were my orders — and, of course, I had 
none — I sat down in a secluded place on the 
poop and gave myself up to dismal forebodings. 
Divers of the crew tried, in clumsy manner, to 
show their appreciation of my doings, and would 
have made friends with me, but I could have 
none of them then. I shrank within myself, 
and all that day and the night succeeding sat 
alone ruminating upon what had been done to 
61 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


me. I say what had been done to me, since I 
could not but feel that the deed was not of my 
own volition. I had been an instrument of fate, 
but for what purpose? 

When the current of a lad’s life is turned by 
untoward circumstances, so that from an inno- 
cent child he becomes, at once and without 
preparation, a sin-stained man, it is likely that 
the awful ness of life looms up before him. No 
real care had I ere this dire happening, no 
thought of aught but happy future, with my 
mother as the central figure in my plans ; but 
now all was changed. Alone and dumbly I 
wrestled with my troubles, and in that awful 
night there was evolved only the resolve that 
never could I return to the one who had hitherto 
been all in all to me. I grew reckless, and hence- 
forth was a changed being. What mattered it, 
after all, whether I cast my lot with honest men 
or with divels ? All at once the world of hap- 
piness had been closed, the door of hope shut 
in my face. 


62 


IN PIRATES’ PARADISE 


Morning found me still where the night had 
left me, and only after the sun had risen red 
from the sea and burned brazen in the sky did 
I leave my retreat and go below, where, after 
drinking a gulp of water and laving my face, I 
cast myself into my bunk and again abandoned 
myself to my grief. I heard my uncle’s foot- 
steps approach, and heard him mutter : “ My 
poor boy ! poor boy ! ” but I turned not toward 
him, even when his hand was laid upon my burn- 
ing forehead. Had not all the world turned 
against me, and had he not played the traitor to 
me and to my mother ? 

Well, that day passed, and another, and near 
the end of the third day I heard shoutings and 
the roar of waves upon rocks, so knew that we 
had come near land. I dragged myself upon 
deck again and saw — as I must confess despite 
my misery — the fairest sight that e’er my eyes 
beheld. 

We were off a rugged island with cliffs rising 
high at a little distance, coral reefs whitened 
63 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


with the foam of waves anear, and between cliffs 
and water broad beaches of golden sands, banked 
by rows of palms. The frigate was threading 
her way through a narrow channel between the 
reefs, scarce wide enough for her to make short 
tacks and come about again, and we were 
entering the seaward gateway with foam-tipped 
prongs of coral within stone’s throw on either 
side. We followed the frigate through the 
sinuous channel for an hour or so, and, after 
beating back and forth in her wake, finally 
reached an open pool big enough to float a score 
of ships. It was entirely land-locked, yet so 
deep as to be sufficient for the largest craft. 
This I ought to know, for afterward I saw many 
such come hither, led by the nose through the 
devious channel to this harbor of the buccaneers. 
For such it was, the famed rendezvous of which 
Mansvelt had spoken, behind the coral reefs that 
fend the waves from Tortuga’s western shore. 

The evening breeze was only just sufficient to 
bring the vessels’ heads up to the wind so that 
64 


IN PIRATES’ PARADISE 


moorings might be made off shore, and then the 
anchors were cast over and the cables payed out 
until their stern-posts almost rested on the sands. 
A boat soon put off from the frigate, and from her 
came a hail in Mansvelt’s voice : “Aboard the 
‘Nancy/ ahoy. Captain Gilbert and his men 
will stay on board their ship to-night, and neither 
go ashore nor move the vessel at peril of their 
lives. ,, 

“ Aye, aye, sir,” cried our first mate, seeing 
that neither my uncle nor myself responded, but 
stood glowering by. 

“ See to it, then,” came back in ominous tones. 
“ Stay where you are ! ” 

The sun had sunk by this time, and swift 
darkness fell upon the isle, enshrouding all. 
Then out from beneath the rows of palms above 
the beach gleamed many fires, reminding me of 
what once I had read in one of my fathers books 
anent the voyages of the great Christopher 
Columbus, to wit: that one time approaching 
the southern coast of Cuba — which island lay 
65 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


not so far distant from us then — he had been 
surprised by the twinkling of innumerable lights, 
and forthwith named the place where they 
appeared the Port of Hundred Fires. 

Noises indescribable also filled the air : the 
mingled oaths and laughter of coarse men, once 
and again the wail of infants, shrill cries of women, 
and the barking of dogs. All the human beings 
ashore seemed to be provided with rude huts 
made of grass and palm leaves, beneath which 
were swung coarse hammocks, such as the Indian 
salvages of these parts were wont to use from 
most early times — as narrated by the Spanish 
voyagers and in the adventures of Raleigh > 
Drake and Hawkins. We could see the burly 
figures of the men lolling in the hammocks, and 
being waited upon by women, as well as by 
Indian slaves. All sprang up, however, as 
Mansvelt’s boat touched the sands, and gathered 
about him with loud cries of welcome. It 
seemed, in truth, as if every man vied with 
every other to produce the most vociferous wel- 
66 


IN PIRATES’ PARADISE 


come ; but it was plain to be noted that there 
was no heart in their cries, only hollow sound, 
like the echoes that reverberated from the cliffs 
above. Some made as if they would fain have 
taken their leader upon their shoulders and have 
borne him to his hut; but he waved them aside 
impatiently, and sent two or three of the most 
froward sprawling on the sands. 

He was a rough master, in sooth, this Mans- 
velt, and perhaps he needs have been so, with 
such crews of cutthroats to deal with as he was 
leader of. After he had entered his hut, which 
was the largest of the group on the beach be- 
neath the palms, there was comparative silence for 
the space of an hour or so, then the noise began 
again, sounding at first like the gatherings of a 
storm : first low mutterings in the distance, then 
increasing to a roar, like the howling of winds 
through the tree-tops. It seemed that another 
party of pirates from the other side of the island 
had gotten wind of Mansvelt’s arrival and 
hastened over to do him honor. There were 
67 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


some hundred or so of the wildest-appearing and 
most fantastic objects that I ever saw. In the 
moonlight at first, and then in the firelight, they 
seemed more like to demons than men. They 
capered about the beach, first circling around 
the fires that had been made for preparing the 
evening meals at or near every hut, and then 
marching in single file past the leader’s house, 
from within which came out sounds of revelry. 
Finally it appeared as though neither party, the 
small and select one feasting inside with Mans- 
velt, nor the larger one outside gathered to wel- 
come him, could endure the strained situation 
longer, and of a sudden the door burst open, 
and the leader himself stood in the doorway 
blackly outlined against the light from torches 
within. 

There were yet more vociferous shouts at his 
appearance, and accompanied by the firing of 
fusees and arquebuses ; then his right hand shot 
out in a commanding gesture, and silence swift 
ensued. I could not hear what he said, but at 
68 


IN PIRATES’ PARADISE 


once he ceased speaking, the pandemonium broke 
loose again, and all made great haste to gather 
at a certain point, about a gunshot from where 
our vessel was at anchor. Then I saw, rolling 
from out a yawning cavern in the cliff behind 
the hut, a huge puncheon, the appearance of 
which all the fiends greeted with loud yells of 
joy. It contained, in fact, the fiery rum of the 
Indies, which the Spaniards call “ aguardiente,” 
or burning water. And in very truth it be well 
named, for it is not only ardent in itself, but the 
cause of hell fire entering into those who par- 
take thereof. 

The puncheon was rolled out beneath a huge 
palm tree, where it was ended up and the upper 
head knocked in. Meanwhile the pirates had 
provided themselves with coco shells and cala- 
bashes, dippers and cups — any sort of vessel 
soever with the which they might dip out the fiery 
liquid, and lost no time in their attack upon the 
•common enemy. They fought and cursed 
around the puncheon, as if their very lives 

69 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


depended upon getting their fill of its hellish 
contents, and as if no time was to be lost in 
making themselves drunk withal, the which 
they proceeded to do without delay. 

Alas and alack, that man, made in the image 
of the Creator, should so defile himself! It was 
not long before nearly all were reeling about 
under the influence of the accursed liquor or 
sunken in a drunken stupor. Well had it been 
if all had been stupefied by the fumes of the 
aguardiente — well for us aboard the “ Nancy,” 
I mean — for there were some who became en- 
raged who sought our destruction. 

70 


CHAPTER V 


HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 

W ELL had it been for some of those mani- 
acal men if they had but let the fiery 
water alone, for when the fumes had 
mounted to their heads the rashest of them con- 
ceived a plan to destroy all that were on board 
our vessel. I need not say that we had been 
attracted by the noises and the bedevilments 
ashore, for nothing else could we do but gather at 
the rail and watch the goings on in silence and 
amaze. It did not occur to us, however, that 
there might be a termination to the revel imme- 
diately disastrous to ourselves until I noted 
some of the pirates gathering in a group apart 
from the main body, who were mostly lying 

5 — For Prey and Spoils, y j 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


on the sands. These were, to be sure, un- 
steady on their legs ; but the more unsteady they 
became the more they seemed possessed by 
fierce desire to carry out the promptings of their 
evil minds. 

It did not astound me at all to see among 
them my friend of the duel fight, nor to see him 
point at our vessel now and again most menac- 
ingly ; nor yet again that he soon formed a 
nucleus for a body of men that all at once 
started on a run for the shore. They tumbled 
into a long boat that was drawn up on the sands, 
and while some pushed it off afloat others took 
their places at the oars. They were not so drunk 
that they had not precautioned to take with 
them their cutlasses and some few their arque- 
buses. Indeed, they never even slept without 
these arms either strapped about them or within 
reach; and it were perhaps superfluous to say 
that they were armed to the teeth. A few 
strokes of the oars brought their boat alongside, 
when it became evident what was their intention 


72 


HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 


— namely, to carry tlie vessel by boarding and 
perhaps murder us all in cold blood. 

But, methinks, we should have well deserved 
our fate had we been idle all this time and al- 
lowed them to take us unawares. As soon as 
the groups had begun to collect my uncle said 
to me in a low tone : “ Son Humphrey, there is 
mischief brewing; go thou to the mate and tell 
him to call all hands on deck — if they are not 
already up — and arm them, every man and boy.” 

This was the first direct speech he had had 
with me since our estrangement ; but a common 
danger caused us to come together, at least tem- 
porarily, and there was no difference of opinion 
now. By the time the pirates had brought their 
boat under the “ Nancy’s” quarter every one of 
our crew was crouched behind the bulwarks, 
each with an arm of some sort in his grasp, 
and each resolved to sell his life, if need be, 
dearly. 

Whatever may be said of our foes, it cannot 
be told that they were in any sort cowards, 
73 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


though, in sooth, some of them may have had 
what our sailors satirically called “ Dutch 
courage ” from imbibing of the ardent water. 
They hesitated not in climbing up the side of 
the vessel, each man with a cutlass between his 
teeth and a pistol in his belt. Their base inten- 
tion was evident enough, but my uncle would 
not take any mean advantage, nevertheless, and 
as the head of the first man appeared above the 
rail he hailed and demanded the meaning of this 
visit. 

The pirate spluttered something between a 
curse and a threat — his speech greatly distorted 
on account of the blade between his lips — and 
my uncle then hailed again, this time with tem- 
per, saying that the first man that came over the 
rail would be killed instanter. So there was no 
mistake as to his meaning then, and, if the ob- 
ject of the pirates was misinterpreted, they had 
opportunity for retreat. It cannot be said of us 
that we took any mean advantage of the foe, but, 
when it became only too evident what the real in- 
74 



dor Prey and Spoils — 2. 

“MY UNCLE LOPPED OFF THE HEAD OF THE PIRATE.” 

See p. 75. 





















































































































HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 


tention was, we no longer hesitated in our at- 
tack. 

With one mighty sweep my uncle lopped off 
the head of the pirate who first appeared in 
sight, and it fell into the water, with his cutlass 
still clenched in his teeth: a most grewsome 
sight, that distorted countenance with the blade 
across it as it was lapped by the waves ere it 
disappeared beneath them ! So fierce was this 
man’s nature, so determined, that his clenched 
hands held to the ropes he had grasped for a 
full minute, I should think, before the headless 
trunk to which they were attached finally plunged 
after the gory, ghastly head. 

I was gazing straight into his face ere it all hap- 
pened, and was for a moment transfixed with hor- 
ror to the spot on which I stood. But for a mo- 
ment only, for the time had come for action. De- 
spite this rude rebuff, the man’s companions came 
swarming over the rail — how I know not, but 
they came, one after the other — until some half 
75 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


score of them had dropped to the decks and were 
fighting back to back. 

I had no stomach for the battle at first ; nor, 
indeed, ever had I desire to fight with any one ; 
but here was I forced again, despite my inclina- 
tion, to defend my life in dire extremity. There 
was no time for thought, however; action was 
the cry. My companions were already at it, 
hammer and tongs, as the saying is, and if we 
would win we should be obliged to fight to the 
utmost. So at it I went, firing my pistol at the 
foremost man that came at me, and then throw- 
ing the weapon — there being no time to reload — 
into the face of the next one. Shifting, then, 
my cutlass from left hand to right, I sprang into 
the thick of it — to my shame, perhaps, be it said, 
with increasing joy — and laid about me on all 
sides without discrimination. 

There was no individual foe to fight, only one 
great hydra-headed monster to cut and whack 
at, which seemed then the chief end of my 
being. I remember that, in the midst of it all, 
76 


HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 


I recalled the fabled Hydra of Greek history, 
and imagined myself another Hercules. Such 
vagaries do possess one when he is in straits, even 
showing that the mind and body are two inde- 
pendent things, quite apart and dual in their 
nature. 

Do not imagine that I would arrogate to my- 
self all the glories of this fight, because I was 
but one unit in a dozen, each one doing as much 
as I, perhaps more than I was doing. But lam 
sure each man and boy of our crew felt the same: 
that his existence was at stake, and though a 
short time before life did not seem worth a pur- 
chase, still it should be sold most dearly. 

Short-sighted human beings that we were. 
Granted we won a victory, what then ? Still 
were we captives of pirates, even if we slew all 
then opposed to us. It were of a verity, a labor 
of Hercules with his hundred-headed monster. 
But we were not then speculating as to our 
future : the living present was straight in front 
of us. 


77 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


We fought, then, as fiends, though I later 
may have indulged in speculation as a philos- 
opher. I was callous to what hurt I caused the 
monsters, and the more the blood flowed the 
more exasperated I became, whether it were 
blood of friend or foe. A spasm of horror con- 
vulsed me as a burly pirate cut down our cook’s 
assistant, a mere boy, with blue eyes and flaxen 
hair, a frail form, but with a spirit big enough to 
fill the frame of man. In an instant I pictured 
his mother’s grief when she should know — if 
ever — what had befallen her darling ; his sister’s 
despair, his father’s impotent rage ; for he was a 
not distant neighbor of my family at home, and, 
like myself, had come on this voyage as for a 
pleasure trip. 

One vast, complex emotion swept through me, 
and I dashed myself against the man who had 
done the deed as if he, and he only, were in 
front of me. Here, at last, was the monster, and 
I hacked at him with cutlass until he, too, seemed 
to realize that there was no other foe than the 
78 


HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 


stripling in front of him. He withdrew his 
blade, all reeking with the blood of that fair 
boy, and turned upon me with a howl like that 
of a wolf. I laughed at him as he made for me, 
so crazed was I with the exultation born of 
combat. I no longer had a life to lose — only a 
cause to defend. By some chance I secured a 
position astride the body of the boy, as he lay 
there motionless upon the bloody deck, and the 
resolve that possessed me was that not all the 
world of furies should move me from that spot. 

Well, why tell of what happened after that? 
Does not the fact that I am alive to write of 
the adventure prove that I survived ? The others? 
Ah, well, the half of us were slain, and nearly 
all, including my uncle, were most sorely 
wounded. It was miraculous, perhaps, that I, 
almost alone, escaped without a cut ; but so it 
was. 

Did I slay the man who cut down the boy ? 
It must have been, but I have no recollection of 
it. I remember his onslaught, that he bore 
79 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


heavily upon me, breathing his fetid breath in my 
face, and that I thrust him back, hacking at him 
with utmost loathing. And after he had fallen 
— for he soon had plunged heavily forward 
amongst the heap of slain — I found myself still 
standing over the body of the boy. Well it was 
for me that the fight that moment ceased, for as 
I stooped to raise the poor fellow from the deck 
I presented a most fair mark for a foe. But, 
though I realized it not, the horrid din still ring- 
ing in my ears — the shouts, oaths, clash and swish 
of cutlasses, and the crash of pistol-shots — the 
combat had really ceased. 

We had won, that was apparent, if one had life 
left to observe, for a few of us were still standing, 
while of the foe not one was on his legs. 
Whether we had killed all, or some made their 
escape, I did not ask, nor did I care, for I was 
absorbed in the youth I had rescued. I raised 
him from the deck and bore him gently to a coil 
of rope near the rail, where he could half recline 
and the better discharge the blood that welled 
80 


HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 


up through his mouth. For he was living — to 
my joy I noted that — though weak and uncon- 
scious from the loss of blood. 

Then was I overcome with anguish at sight of 
this fair lad sore smitten there. For the first time 
my tears began to fall. Think me not craven or 
faint-hearted ; but, indeed, the strain of the 
fight had told on me. Perhaps it was not 
cowardly to weep, after all, for my tears were 
forced by the sight of another’s sufferings. At 
all events, I wept, and, while still blinded by my 
tears, stumbled upon a recumbent figure, as I 
rose to go for water with which to bathe the 
lad’s face. 

It was my uncle, prostrate, his face all 
bloody, his right hand pressed against his breast. 
Then my heart gave a great leap, and I was 
smitten with a pang more acute than I had ever 
felt. Remorse, as well as anguish, seized upon 
me then, for in a moment I realized how resent- 
ful I had felt toward him, and now it might be 
too late to crave his pardon ! I knelt and 
81 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


placed my ear to his heart. It still beat, and he 
was still alive, thank God ! 

I ran to the water cask, filled the nearest 
vessel and hastened back to my patients twain. 
I washed the blood from their faces, forced a 
little water between the lips of each, and had the 
happiness to see them open their eyes. The boy 
recovered first to that extent, then my uncle ; 
but neither spake for a while, for the blood that 
filled their throats. 

As I was kneeling between them, striving to 
stanch the flow of blood from their wounds, first 
working upon one and then upon the other, I 
noted finally a look of strained intensity in my 
uncle’s eyes, and glancing upward saw the figure 
of a buccaneer standing over me. He was 
evidenly a new arrival, at all events some one 
who had not taken part in the fight. 

The moon was at the full, and everything was 
clearly visible. Rising to an erect posture, I 
turned an enquiring gaze upon the intruder, 
then resumed the work which he had interrupted, 

82 


HOW WE BEHEADED THE HYDRA 


as he said nothing, and my labor was important. 

The man was tall and broad-shouldered, his 
form being burly rather than athletic or well 
knit ; his face was dark and strong, with black 
and piercing eyes,' a hooked nose, and small 
mustachios adorning his upper lip. His hair 
was black and abundant, flowing over the collar 
of his doublet. His dress was richer than 
that of the average buccaneer, denoting some- 
what of authority, which indeed his manner 
confirmed. That he- was somebody high in 
command I did not doubt ; neither did I care. 
For the die had been cast, the fight fought out, 
and if we were still in the pirates’ hands — as 
undoubtedly we were — what use to borrow 
trouble ? 

“ Well, my lad,” spake the buccaneer, at last, 
“ you seem to have had a busy time. What has 
happened ? ” 

“ Happened ? ” I repeated, vexed beyond 
measure at this foolish question. “ Oh, nothing, 
of course. Go ask those dead men on the deck.” 
83 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Hoity, toity, but you are a cool one. Know 
you not who lam?” 

“ No, nor care. But get hence; these friends 
need my attentions.” 

“ Zounds ! I ve a mind to run you through. 
Know, then, I am Morgan ! ” 

“ And what then ? ” I answered, impatiently. 
“ I am Gilbert, an Englishman and an honest 
one ; which I trow is more than you can say.” 

The buccaneer frowned darkly, as I could see, 
for I was again erect and the moon shone full 
upon his face. He rattled his sword in its 
scabbard, as though he would draw it on me, 
but thought better of it, and turned away, 
gnawing at his mustacliios savagely. 

84 


CHAPTER VI 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 

I T may not be out of place to state that I 
hated this man, Morgan, from the first 
moment I saw, or rather felt, him standing 
over me in the moonlight, that night of un- 
happy memories. And it may be well, more- 
over, to further state that there was ever enmity 
between us, an inborn antagonism, that raged 
until it broke out into a bitter feud. I am 
anticipating events by several years ; for this 
story of mine takes the better portion of my life; 
but no matter. That I live to narrate it is proof 
positive that I survived, as I have said already ; 
but there were times, yea, oft and again, that I 
wished I were dead, all on account of this man. 
How he came upon us so quietly I know not, 
85 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


except that the noise of strife on our vessel was 
so great that his ship crept in through the 
channel unawares and ran alongside. But there 
he was, a living, terrible presence, an apparition 
of evil, far more reckless and cruel than even 
Mansvelt — and that is saying much. 

It may seen strange, perhaps, that Mansvelt 
had not made his appearance when the fight was 
raging ; but it would not seem so to one who 
knew his reckless character. He always held 
that men’s lives were cheap, saying boldly in 
our presence that it were far better to enlist new 
crews than to strive to save the old ones. So 
when his men engaged in fights amongst them- 
selves, as they did full oft, he laid himself low 
and took no part therein. 

That he had professed a certain liking, even 
admiration, for me did not argue that he loved 
me enow to risk his precious life in my defence, 
and so when he knew his men were setting out 
to kill us all on board the “ Nancy ” he pre- 
ferred to stay in his hut rather than to see that 
86 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 


I was safe from harm. Young as I was then, I 
knew I had nothing to expect from Mansvelt, 
despite his protestations. He might praise and 
fondle me, perchance, and doubtless would 
commend me for resisting his own men and 
taking part in the killing of them. Such was 
his savage, inexplicable nature, more like that of 
a wolf than of a human being. But still, in 
my heart I felt more trust in him than Morgan ; 
and wisely, as the sequel showed to me. 

But do not believe that I reasoned all this out 
that night, with all my troubles thick upon me ; 
my uncle sore wounded; perhaps unto death, and 
the lad my messmate also. After I had cared 
for them to the extent of my ability, and had 
finally stanched the flow of blood and received 
token of their relief from their easier breathing, 
I left them for a bit and looked about to make 
an estimate of the losses we had met with. To 
be brief — for though the other lives were as 
precious, doubtless, as our own, yet they are not 
of moment to this narrative — I found that nearly 

b—For Prey and Spoils. g y 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


half our men had fallen in the fight. The mate 
was dead, so was the boatswain, and three others 
had also fallen in their tracks. My heart was 
like lead and seemed a bullet in my breast ; but 
I was pervaded by a sullen indifference to what 
might befall, begotten of what had befallen 
already. And the few survivors were as regardless 
of what fate had in store for us as I was myself. 
They obeyed my orders mechanically, as it were, 
like men of wood pulled by a string ; but still 
they obeyed, and ere morning dawned we had 
the decks cleared after a fashion, the dead 
laid out in rows under the rails and the 
wounded attended to. There was no surgeon 
there, so it was no surprise that full half the 
wounded died before the week was out, what 
with the heat of day, the tropical insects that 
festered in their wounds, and lack of skillful 
care. Nurse them we did, to the extent that 
most of us dropped down from fatigue, ever and 
anon. And then the dead ! Ere the first day 
succeeding that dread night was over it became 
88 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 


evident to us survivors that we could not leave 
them on the vessel. So I sent word to Mansvelt 
that nineteen corpses lay on our decks awaiting 
burial, hoping he would see to it that they 
received interment ashore; for of a surety I 
could not bury them there without his permission. 

But he replied that, as we had killed them, so 
we must bury them, and that in his opinion the 
best we could do was to throw them to the sharks, 
of which the harbor was full, ravenous and 
bloodthirsty. It grieves me to write this ; but even 
so we were compelled to do, to toss the corpses 
overboard, when the tide was on the ebb, which 
was near evening of the day following that night 
of horror. Ah, it was cruel and pitiful to do 
this, and all in sight of our wounded, who lay now 
on mattresses stretched upon the deck, the air 
below being too close and stifling for them to 
stay there. 

I had my mother’s book of prayer with me, 
one of her precious gifts, and perforce I was the 
chaplain, even as I was also sexton and helped 
89 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


launch the dead into the deep. We bared our 
heads, and at the foot of each stark body, whether 
of a fallen mate or foe, I read the prayer for 
the dead, not omitting to ask God to forgive us 
all, living as well as dead, for the sins we bad 
committed. 

Then, having done this, we returned to the 
first one of the line, lifted him to the rail and 
dropped him overboard. We peered after that 
first man, loth to let him go, alone and un- 
attended, on liis last journey ; but we looked not 
again after there came a great inrush of the rav- 
enous horde of sharks, gathered as if awaiting 
what they knew was coming. 

“ Oh, God ! ” I cried. “Was it for this thou 
hast made us? Father in Heaven, is there no 
escape, either for the dead or the living ? ” I 
looked around into the faces of my men, but 
they regarded me stonily. Only the moans of 
the wounded broke the silence — only the moans 
of the wounded — and the horrid sounds from 
the sea, where the sharks were fighting and 
90 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 


lashing the water to foam. Wearily and heav- 
ily we took up the task again, and at last all 
was finished. We had done our duty by the 
dead so far as in us lay to do it; there now re- 
mained the living, wounded ones. 

Better had it been, I have often thought, if 
my uncle had died ere he had witnessed that 
terrible spectacle ; for he had seen it all, per- 
force, lying there under the rail, with wide star- 
ing eyes and parted lips. After it was over he 
beckoned to me, and I went and sat beside him, 
taking his hands in mine and trying to soothe 
him with loving words. My cup of sorrow was 
full, I had thought ; but now it was to run over. 

“ Humphrey, my son,” he whispered, “ I can- 
not stay with thee much longer. Ere I go, how- 
ever,! must tell thee a secret; then — then perhaps 
thou wilt think better of thy uncle.” His 
breath came hard, and with effort only he spake; 
so I tried to soothe and check him, saying he 
must keep what he had to say till later. There 
was no secret he could tell me that would change 
91 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


my regard for him, for now I knew I loved him, 
and was sorry and ashamed that I had enter- 
tained any doubt at all. But he would go on, 
saying that his time was short, and he must 
speak. 

And this is what he said, struggling mightily 
with his words, for the hand of death was then 
upon him : “ Humphrey, dear, my only sister’s 

son, thou hast had occasion to doubt my honor, 
for I have tried thee sore. Know, then, dear 
boy, that I gave our ship into the hands of the 
pirate for a reason. It was this : The lords of 
the British admiralty commissioned me to find 
where he had his rendezvous ; and I could think 
of no other way than to let him capture our ves- 
sel and take us thither, then escape, if so be I 
might, and after reaching dear old England 
guide hither ships of war to take this strong- 
hold and capture the pirates. 

“But I did not realize the full measure of the 
peril I had brought upon thee and our mates, 
until — until it was too late — too late! I felt 


92 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 

it first wlien thou wert in the encounter with 
that man who insulted thy mother, my sister, 
yet could not declare myself, since that would 
have been to divulge my plan. Thou knowest 
the rest, dear — how the scheme hath miscarried 
woefully. I know now that it is wrong to do 
evil that, perchance, good may come. I am 
properly punished for my fault. But thou, 
oh, Humphrey, my boy, what will become of 
thee? ” 

Of a truth, I was racked with remorse when I 
heard this confession, and knew then how I had 
misjudged my uncle. I should have known that 
no one of my mother’s blood could do aught that 
was low or mean. And I misjudged him so ! 
God pity me ! forgive me ! I cried out aloud in 
my anguish. 

“Hush, my boy,” whispered my uncle, softly. 
“ Thou art forgiven. Young, impetuous, honest, 
what else couldst thou do but resent what thou 
thoughtst was wrong ? I was the one in the 
I should have taken thee into my con- 
93 


wrong. 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


fidence. In that failure to do so my error 
lay." 

He was silent for a short space, and then said, 
brokenly : “ Darling boy, thou art as a son to me. 
Oh, if I could but live to fill thy dead father’s 
place in thy affections ! But, dear, I am going 
now. My sight fails me. I cannot see thee, 
Humphrey. Place thy arm around me and kiss 
me, dear, for thy mother’s sake. God grant 
thou mayest see her again ! And tell her not to 
think harshly of me for what I have done. I 
thought it was for the best. 

“ I go now to join my brave admiral, under 
whom I fought at Teneriffe. Would that I could 
be buried near the Dart, Humphrey But, oh, 
do not — do not throw me overboard to the — no, 
thou wilt not ; but bury me ashore, beneath the 
palms. It is meet that I should be buried here. 
This is the stronghold I sought. I found it, 
only to be buried in it. Now, God receive my 
spirit ! Dear Lord, bless thou this boy, and lead 
him hence from this den of demons into the 


94 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 


haven where She liveth whose love we treasure. 
Be a lamp unto — his — feet ; guide thou — guide 
thou — him. Forgive — forgive — me — ” 

The voice died away and all was still. I knew 
then that I was doubly orphaned, that the form 
in my arms was only lifeless clay; but I pressed 
the dear face to mine and called upon the dead 
to speak to me again. Vainly, vainly. The 
stout heart was stilled. I was alone ! 

What are these my sorrows to others that I 
should so dwell upon them now ? They are 
naught, except as showing what hath happened 
to a human being, and what may happen to 
another. It is in the sympathy of sorrow, as well 
as of love, that the heart finds its fellow, and 
says not the good Book : “ Better the house of 
mourning than of feasting ? ” But it is not of 
my desire that I conduct my reader thither — per- 
chance there be one who shall find and peruse 
what I have written. 

Bear with me yet awhile, and I shall show 
how — incredible as it may seem, as indeed it once 
95 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


seemed to me — I grew to find a joy in living and 
even (what is better) made others feel also that 
joy. In those dread days when we first found 
the pirates’ isle I descended to almost fathomless 
deeps of sorrow; yet I rose again, slowly rose, 
until, as I have said, there came to me a veritable 
joy in merely living. 

Didst ever think how surpassing good it is to 
be alive ? And yet, at the time my uncle passed 
away (as narrated), I had rather have died than 
harbored such a thought. This shows what 
there is of endurance in man : that when it may 
seem sorrow or disaster of other sort hath crushed 
him down, the saving virtue of hope, love for 
another — as in my case for my mother — beareth 
him up and guideth him to some haven of rest. 
But think not that I obtained surcease of sorrow 
within brief space, for the hand of fate was heavy 
upon me for years. And bear in mind that this 
narrative is written in after life, even though it 
pertain exclusively to the doings of my youth. 

Now let me revert to my special charges : my 
96 


FEEDING THE SHARKS AT TORTUGA 


dear uncle, whose limbs had stiffened in death 
beneath my eyes, and the lad who still lived, 
and in his conscious intervals had been a witness 
to those dire happenings. Well it was that the 
lad had a hold on me, else I should not have 
survived the demise of my dear relative. I say 
it were well — and yet, upon reflection, of what I 
later passed through, the sins I was forced to con- 
nive at, the criminals I was compelled to consort 
with, and the terrible scenes to witness — who 
knows? 

But, yes, God knows. He it was gave me life — 
bestowed upon the clay known to man as Hum- 
phrey Gilbert the animating spirit that per- 
meated my being, that made me different from 
the beast of the field. It behooved me, then, to 
keep this spirit pure, unsullied, no matter what 
the body in which it was incarnate might be 
called on to endure, inasmuch that at last it 
should be rendered back to God untainted. 

And did I this? Dear God, Father Al- 
mighty, thou knowest ! How the spirit and the 
97 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


flesh have striven in me, how I have been cast 
down, dumb and despairing, carnally o’er- 
weiglited, and again have striven upward until 
I almost gazed within thy pearly gates, Thou 
knowest! 

Into the boiling caldron of sin I was plunged, 
and seethed therein until the flesh near parted 
from my bones; yet was not quite the spirit 
quenched. Seared was my conscience, mayhap ; 
but a spark remained which I trust shall make 
for life eternal. 

98 


CHAPTER VII 


BUCCANEERS MANSYELT AND MORGAN 

N OW remained the performance of my duty 
to my uncle. Lhad promised him that 
he should not be tossed to the sharks, 
and should be buried ’neath one of the swaying 
palms on shore, provided I could accomplish it. 
To do so I must seek Mansvelt in his lair and 
beg the favor of him, or of whomsoever made 
pretense of being the lord of the isle. Doubt- 
less it was Mansvelt, but I misdoubted if the 
pirate Morgan would not have a word to say. 
And it was even so, for when I went ashore to 
proffer the request I found the twain holding 
high revel in the leader’s hut. They had little 
mind to listen to me, in sooth ; but my mission 
L.cfC. 


99 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


was urgent, my heart was callous with much 
suffering, and I cared nothing for their 
whims. 

“How is this?” demanded Mansvelt, after I 
had gained entrance to the room where he was 
reclining in a hammock surrounded by his boon 
companions. “ How is this ? Is it not enough 
that ye all should murder some dozen or more 
of my honest knaves who had gone aboard your 
craft on pleasure bent, but that ye also should 
desire me to bury them ? Who is this man you 
would thrust upon my island now ? Ods blood, 
but there are bones enough buried here now, 
without adding to the number. Over on the lee- 
ward side is a veritable golgotha. 

“ Well, yes, bring him ashore, for one more or 
less will not matter. But who is he that of all 
the number slain should be so highly honored ? 
No sailor, I ’ll trow, who prefers a dry grave 
ashore to the salt sea.” 

“ It is my uncle, sir,” I managed to stammer, 
yet looking him full in the eye. “ You knew him 


IOO 


MANSVELT AND MORGAN 


when alive, yet he would not wish me to beg a 
favor of you, that I am sure.” 

“ What, Brabazon ? He killed ? Well, I ’m 
sorry. He was the most skillful navigator ever 
sailed these seas, and I had hoped yet to have 
him one of us. He would have made a fine 
chief mate, in sooth. He was a brave man, too. 
I feel moved to go with you and see him laid at 
rest. What sayest thou, Morgan, shall we go 
and do the honors ? ” 

“ Go an ’t pleaseth thee,” snarled the one ad- 
dressed, who was lolling near in another ham- 
mock ; “ but as for me, this wine is to my taste. 
I ’ll not leave it for any dog’s funeral, let alone 
Brabazon. I have it from my spies that he came 
here of a purpose: namely, to gather informa- 
tion of the rendezvous and then haste home to 
England, eke to return with the king’s ships and 
hang the whole of us ! ” 

“ Not so,” returned Mansvelt. When I took 
him he was bound for the Barbadoes, whither he 
was going for a cargo.” 


IOI 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ When you took him ! Ah, ha, that is rich 
enough. Why, man, he allowed himself to be 
taken, that he might be brought here and gain 
the evidence that would swing us all from the 
yard’s arm.” 

“Thou liest, Morgan, I took him in a fair 
fight.” 

“Fight? Call you that a fight when no 
blood was shed save by that youngster yonder, 
and that, too, of your own men in the quarrel 
that he picked with them? Better make it a 
double funeral and bury them both in the same 
grave — Brabazon and his nephew — else the pup 
may carry out the old dog’s scheme and cause us 
trouble later.” 

Morgan had said all this without even rising 
from his reclining position in the hammock, and 
without raising his voice, as if it were a matter 
of indifference to him, yet the words stung the 
more, both Mansvelt and myself. I felt the 
blood boil within my veins and that creeping at 
the roots of my hair which boded ire. It was 


102 



For trey and Spoils — 3. 

“MORGAN SAID ALL THIS WITHOUT RISING FROM THE HAMMOCK.” 


See p. 102. 



















































































MANSVELT AND MORGAN 


only by the mightiest effort that I controlled 
myself. I did not wish to engage in unseemly 
strife at that time when on such an errand, and 
I tried to still the beating of my heart and the 
bounding of my pulse, resolving to swallow the 
insult rather than allow myself to be drawn into 
a quarrel. 

But Mansvelt had no such scruples as mine to 
restrain him, and he leaped to his feet soon as 
the words were said that impugned his honor 
and veracity. His cimitar he jerked from its 
scabbard and flourished aloft, at the same time 
exclaiming that he would make Morgan eat 
those words: that he must fight unless he re- 
tracted what he had said. As for the latter, he 
seemed in no whit moved by the actions of the 
Frenchman, although in the circles described by 
Mansvelt’s cimitar in the air it came very near 
to his head. He continued puffing tobacco, blow- 
ing rings of smoke into the air, and now and 
then reaching for a cup of wine, held by an In- 
dian slave who stood trembling by. He seemed 

7 — For Prey and Spoils. j q ? 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


to enjoy the confusion lie had created, and his 
huge shoulders quaked with inward merriment. 
One would have thought, seeing him thus, that 
he had cracked the greatest joke in the world. 

But the confusion was not all of either his or 
Mansvelt’s creating, for at his suggestion of bury- 
ing me in the same grave with my uncle there 
arose a shout of approval from the rest of the 
company gathered there at the revel, nearly all, 
as with one voice, yelling out: “Aye, bury them 
together. One grave for both ! One grave for 
both ! ” And weapons were unloosed, while, if 
scowls could have killed a person, I were like to 
fall dead at once. 

I stood my ground, however, neither replying 
to the wretches nor yielding to the impulse that 
now and again seized me of taking to my heels 
and seeking shelter on the ship. It seemed to 
me, despite the apparent danger I was in, that 
these fools were merely vaporing, and especially 
Mansvelt, with his sword play at the empty air 
and his oaths, which he continued to explode 
104 


MANSVELT AND MORGAN 


like Chinese fireworks in a barrel. My opinion 
of him underwent a change as I saw him thus, 
and at that particular moment liis rival, Mor- 
gan, appeared to the better advantage, I ween. 

At last the latter thundered forth: “ Avast 
and belay there, fool. Enough of this boy’s play. 
If you misdoubt me ask the lad what his uncle’s 
intentions were. Stand forth, thou British cur,” 
he said, addressing me, “ and tell us what thou 
knowest about the admiralty scheme. Tell Mon- 
sieur Mansvelt that I am no liar ! ” 

“ That you cannot prove by me,” I said, reck- 
lessly enough. “ Where you got that tale I 
know not, but from the time our ship left Eng- 
land until the day we arrived at this island I 
never heard a word of it. But, then, I was not 
master of the vessel. Belike he would not have 
confided his plans, if he had any such, to his 
cabin boy.” 

“ No, belike,” sneered Morgan, bringing his 
evil face close to mine (for he had now left his 
hammock and was on his feet), “but he might 
105 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


have confided them to his sister’s son when at 
the point of death. He might have done this, 
and this he did, as you cannot deny, and also 
have bound you by an oath to carry out his 
scheme. Is that so ?” 

Like a flash then it came to me how this vil- 
lain had secured the information : he had been 
eavesdropping while my dear uncle had falter- 
ingly confessed to me his scheme in his last mo- 
ments. Unutterable loathing of the creature 
took possession of me then, and I drew away 
from him as though he were a thing unclean — as, 
in sooth, he was. 

“ I will not tell you what my uncle said to me. 
His last words are sacred. But, be assured, he 
bound me by no oath.” I told him this much 
and then lapsed into silence, resolved not to speak 
again. 

“ Sacred, eh?” the pirate repeated after me 
with a leer. “ Know, fool, that there is nothing 
sacred in these seas. Not life, nor death, nor 
religion. For this is the nether world — d’ ye 


MANSVELT AND MORGAN 


hear ? This is the place where demons dwell. 
We are all divels .here. That ape over there 
(pointing to Mansvelt) is a French divel ; I am 
a Welsh divel ; those asses who brayed so loudly 
just now are mongrel divels ; but all, all are pos- 
sessed of the evil one ! ” 

“ Oh, let the lad alone,” now interposed Mans- 
velt, his fury being now spent and Morgan’s 
ghastly jesting putting him in good humor again. 
“What matters it whether he knows of his 
uncle’s plan or not, or whether Brabazon had a 
scheme ? Who cares ? Brabazon is dead ; the 
boy cannot escape us, and as for the British 
admiralty, like all things British, it is pig- 
headed and dense. Were it the French ad- 
miralty, now — ah, that would be different.” 

“ Of course,” snarled the Briton, “ the dif- 
ference between something and nothing. “ No 
wasp-waisted Frenchman yet could handle a ves- 
sel, let alone a navy ; which, by the way, your 
nation never owned.” 

“ Eh, bien,” returned the Frenchman, now 
107 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


thoroughly good-humored. “ Have it your own 
way. But let the lad go bury his uncle. Cap- 
tain Brabazon was not the man to wait on others 
in his life ; methinks this delay must be vexa- 
tious to him. ,, He laughed at his grim joke 
and his boon companions joined in, so there was 
peace again in camp. 

Such as I have described him was the buc- 
caneer, Henry Morgan, though I have given but 
a phase or two of his hideous character. It makes 
me ashamed that one of my countrymen should 
have sunk so low as he, should have given to 
the land of his birth such a reputation ; but he 
was born a monster, it would seem. A native of 
Wales, his father a wealthy farmer, somehow or 
other Morgan became enamored of the sea, and 
shipped for the Barbadoes, arrived at which island 
the master of his vessel sold him into slavery, in a 
manner, that sort of white slavery being then in 
vogue ; that is, men and boys were lured to the 
islands under one pretence and another, or else 
sent there for their offences, and indentured to the 
108 


MANSVELT AND MORGAN 


planters for terms of years. The latter saw to it 
that their 'prentices did not escape without 
paying them well for their investments, and 
many a poor white slave paid his reckoning with 
his life. 

Morgan, however, was of stronger stuff than 
the common run, and instead of sinking under 
his misfortunes ran away and escaped them. 
He made his way either to Saint Kitts or to 
Jamaica, and there joined the fraternity known 
as the Brethren of the Sea, or the Buccaneers, be- 
coming shortly one of the best known of those 
gentry and carrying things before him with a high 
hand. Having in mind the sufferings he had 
endured from his own countrymen in particular, 
he always held a grudge against them, it would 
seem, being especially cruel to such as fell into 
his clutches. Many a poor mariner had he made 
to walk the plank, and many a British ship had 
he consigned to the flames, after sacking her of 
all she held worth taking away. 

When I first made his acquaintance he was 


109 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


not much more than thirty years old, haying 
been born, he always held, in 1637. As I have 
already described him : he was big and burly, 
peculiarly phlegmatic when he chose, but as cruel 
as a tiger or hyena — which latter he seemed 
more to resemble in his ghoulish delight in 
rending away from his victims, whether dead or 
alive, the last shred of character he was able to 
deprive them of. Just when he made the ac- 
quaintance of my friend Mansvelt I never knew, 
but they had known each other some time when 
I first found them. They had already been en- 
gaged in several nefarious expeditions, had 
plundered a city and taken galleons galore. 
They made a good pair together so long as 
they could agree, for the Frenchman was crafty 
and designing, while the Englishman was bold 
and relentless in pursuit. The one would plan 
a scheme of plunder, be it the sacking of a city on 
the Main or the cutting out of a fleet of treasure 
ships from its convoy, and the other would 
execute it. 


no 


MANSVELT AND MORGAN 


This precious pair of rascals would not much 
longer hold together, as any one the least ob- 
servant could see with half an eye, for they were 
now wealthy beyond all calculation from the 
plunder they had taken, and had little more to 
gain by working in unison. Each was getting 
restive under the domineering of the other, and 
there were not lacking those in Tortuga who 
predicted that the question of leadership would 
soon be settled by personal combat. There could 
be only one leader; but while Mansvelt enjoyed 
the nominal distinction, Morgan was really the 
dominant one. He had hitherto kept pretty 
much at sea, being a pirate that was happy only 
when sailing under the black flag with the cross- 
bones on it at the masthead in open sea. But 
latterly he had shown a preference for Tortuga 
that was most unusual, sometimes spending 
weeks ashore, when he should have been off 
scouring the sea, Mansvelt thought, for their 
common prey. 

I learned later that there was a fair lady in 


hi 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


tiie case, whose favors both were striving for, and 
who dwelt a prisoner in Tortuga under guard of 
Mansvelt’s men. It did not seem possible to 
me then that any man could care sufficiently for 
any woman, not his mother or sister, to fight 
for her withal ; but as I grew older I grew wiser, 
and learned what it was to become interested to 
that extent. In sooth, no knight-errant of 
chivalry could have fought more fiercely for his 
lady love than I myself fought in defence of this 
same lady’s honor later on. I mean she who 
was the cause of trouble between Morgan and 
Mansvelt. 


1 1 2 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS 

I RETURNED to the vessel with a heavy, 
heavy heart, for I had now the saddest of 
duties to perform — the putting away for- 
ever of my only real friend here, my dear uncle. 
It was assuaging to my grief, in a sense, that I 
could comply with his last request and place 
him in a grave ashore, rather than consign him 
to the deep ; but even so, what can be more ter- 
rible than death, in any form? I know the 
best of books saith, or intimateth, there is no 
sting in death, there is no victory in the grave ; 
but I was not then in a state to consider the 
solaces therein contained. My bereavement was 
too recent, and the circumstances attending upon 
my uncle’s death too terrible. 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Welcomed aboard the “ Nancy ” as one re- 
turning from having encountered dire peril — 
for my friends had seen the gathering groups of 
muttering and scowling men as I passed, and 
feared for my safety ashore — it was indeed a re- 
lief to be once more among men of my own land 
and those who had known and respected my 
uncle. With their assistance I enshrouded the 
dear form in the ship’s flag, placed it in a casket 
we roughly hewed from plank, and then we 
bore our erstwhile commander ashore in the 
long boat. We could not but anticipate trouble, 
seeing that there were those on shore who were 
friends of the men we had slain ; yet none of us 
was armed, save with the uten*ils we carried for 
digging the grave. They were strange men, 
those Brethren of the Sea. Although fierce in 
their nature and savage in onslaught, unre- 
strained in their passions and moved oft by 
cruel impulse, they seemed soon to forget their 
injuries and harbored no thoughts of revenge 
on those who had opposed them valiantly in 
114 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS 


their defence. So they ventured no opposition 
to our sad procession, but held aloof; for the 
which we were very grateful, as may be well 
believed. 

I had selected a spot enclosed by huge rocks, 
near a projecting point where grew a solitary 
palm, as the last resting-place of my dear kins- 
man, and here we dug the grave, near to the 
murmuring waters of the sea, yet beneath the 
shadow of the great cliffs. Having placed him 
therein and recited the prayers for the dead, we 
left him to his last rest, in this spot so far dis- 
tant from his kin and the home he loved so well. 

But I will dwell no longer upon this grievous 
situation. Let me now turn to scenes that have 
in them more the promise of hope. Our little 
company, now reduced to the forlorn remnant 
of our crew that survived the pirates’ onslaught, 
took up the burden of daily duties as though life 
had held out to us the golden promise of release 
from the slavery into which we were now 
plunged. A hopeless slavery, it appeared ; yet 
115 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


in our hearts was ever the hope that something 
might offer that would give us that release for 
which we daily prayed. 

The buccaneers were not long to leave us in 
doubt as to their intentions, for that very eve 
word came from Mansvelt to get ashore and oc- 
cupy some huts which the Indians had been 
ordered to construct for us above the beach at 
the base-line of the cliffs. These huts were 
made of palm leaves, in form dome-shaped and 
about ten feet in diameter, after the manner in 
vogue amongst the Carib salvages whom the first 
Spaniards found in possession of these West In- 
dian isles. Owing to the mild and equable cli- 
mate, ever soft and genial, save in the months of 
ouragans , when the rains fell in torrents and 
the winds blew with mighty violence, these huts 
sufficed us well as dwelling-places. The clean 
beach sand formed the floors, the bright leaves 
of the cocoa palms the roofs, and but for our 
dreadful straits we might have enjoyed their 
occupancy. One of the huts was assigned as a 

116 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS 


hospital, in which were gathered our sorely 
wounded ones — all save the youth I have men- 
tioned, who was permitted to be in my sole 
charge and to share with me the hut first in the 
line nearest to the cliffs. This lad had recovered 
swiftly from his cuts and bruises, and it was not 
many days ere he could walk about a bit, stead- 
ied by my arms around him ; but ever after he 
walked but with a limp, from the cruel gash he 
had received in one of his legs. 

As I have said, it was fortunate that I had 
him dependent upon me for support — well for 
me that I had some one in my charge more 
weakly than myself — for in the care I gave 
him I was somewhat absorbed, and had less time 
to brood over my own troubles. 

The sharing of another’s sorrows is, in the 
wise dispensation of Almighty God, one of the 
compensations of life. Let me impress this 
truth upon thee, oh, reader mine, in whatsoever 
age or clime thou dwellest, for it is a foundation 
fact of our brief existence. The dear Lord, in 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


his superlative wisdom, gave to me this youth 
to care for, to take in a measure the place of my 
departed relative and my mother ; and, sooth, it 
was with a brother’s love that I grew to regard 
him, and he requited all my care with a deep 
regard. This love for him and by him was the 
sweetener of my existence, then, and so long as 
we lived together. And, what is strange, the 
rough buccaneers respected our devotion to each 
other, and, besides some sneering allusion to 
“ David and Jonathan” on the part of Morgan 
and his like, they threw no jibes at us nor sought 
to separate us while we dwelt on the isle of 
blood. 

In the coolest corner of our hut I swung a ham- 
mock, so placed that he could look out upon the 
sea while lying there, and where, soothed by the 
murmur of the waves and the rustling of 
the broad cocoa leaves o’erhead, he full oft lay 
and dozed in seeming content. His name was 
John James Blake, and he came of a good 
family that owned a property contiguous to our 
1 18 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS 


manor near the Dart. He was two years younger 
than myself, fair as to complexion, slight as to 
build, and of a loving, gentle disposition. 
Making no complaint, but rather enduring all 
without a murmur, he looked upon me as his 
saviour, and said many a time and oft that he 
owed his life to me. Whether this were so or no, 
it gave to me keen sense of pleasure to think 
that such might be the case ; yet I always chided 
him for the remark, reminding him that we were 
not yet “ out of the woods,” and he had better 
not halloa too soon. At which he would smile 
faintly, and say that he was sure some good 
would come of this, since God in his mercy had 
allowed his life to be spared. 

I prepared his meals and mine together, dur- 
ing the day sitting by his side or within call, 
and at evening time, when the sun drew near 
to the horizon, I would bring forth my dear 
mother’s Bible and read to him such portions 
as were most comforting. At such latter times 
we would seem to be lifted nigh to the very 

8 — For rrey and Spoils. 1 1 0 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


heaven of which the precious Book of books re- 
minded us. Yea, even in despite of our sur- 
roundings, for we felt ourselves renewed by those 
eternal truths therein contained, and dwelt for 
brief space with the verities of God. 

Far be it from me to endeavor to preach to 
thee, reader, or to dogmatize; but be assured 
that this be true, for it is founded on the ever- 
lasting rock of promise : that whosoever layeth 
hold upon the eternal verities hath naught to 
fear. This earth and all it containeth shall pass 
away, but the Word of God remaineth forever. 
This much only I know : that in our case it was 
a steadfast anchor to our souls, but for which we 
should have been swept away to destruction. 

It was then that I first appeared to receive the 
saving glimmer of light from above, coming to 
me through the Word, and showing me how 
much there might yet be, even in this world, 
worth living for and enjoying. While sitting 
at the hut’s entrance, which opened toward the 
sea and the west, on my knee the sacred Book, 


120 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS 


and with one hand clasped by the lad’s hand 
hanging over the hammock’s side, the sinking 
sun would oft embrace us in his golden beams. 

We would then cease from reading and from 
converse, and watch the red orb sink beneath 
the waves, leaving after it most glorious clouds 
tinged with celestial hues. Sometimes a lane of 
light, oft pearly and oft golden, would lead away 
from the coral ledges in front of our beach 
straight to the horizon’s gates, and, in truth, it 
would appear to us that we saw before us the 
entrance-way to heaven. The wind by this 
time would have died away to merest zephyr, 
and the only sound — save always the brawlings 
of the buccaneers at a distance — would be the 
whisperings of the palm leaves o’erhead, as if in 
sweet communion together. 

How peaceful and even heavenly were those 
moments, just at the death of day and birth of 
night ! We would gaze at the spectacle without 
speaking, then turn with sighs to look into each 
other’s faces. We never spake the word, but 


I 2 I 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


each knew that in the other’s soul was a sense of 
divine restfulness, and in his heart a whispering 
of hope. Thus were our souls knitted together 
through sweet contemplation of God’s glories as 
made manifest on earth. 

We were not long to enjoy this idyllic state 
unmolested, as may be imagined; but, ere I nar- 
rate the dread events that were in store for us, 
let me speak of something else. Being by nature 
of an exploring turn of mind, I employed my 
spare time to investigate the isle and our imme- 
diate surroundings, always having before me the 
possible need of a place of retreat in case of 
emergency. It needs must be that I was super- 
natur'ally assisted in this, as will now appear, for 
one day I found a spot so well equipped by na- 
ture for defence (of a few against an army, per- 
ad venture) that I could see in its discovery but 
the finger of Providence. 

I say I found it, but it was through John’s 
agency, as will now appear. He one day fell 
from out the hammock to the floor of the hut, 


122 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS] 


which being sand he was not much hurt, but for 
the sand being a thin layer only above a ledge 
of rock. When his hip struck this spot he noted, 
despite the hurt resulting from said fall, that a 
sound was given forth, like as if he had struck 
on something hollow. And, in sooth, he had, 
for when he told me of his experience I at once 
investigated, and found that the rock beneath 
the sand was merely a thin slab, which, by exert- 
ing all my strength, I could e'en lift from its 
position. 

It happened that this discovery was made 
about high noon, when all the people of the 
island, e’enmost, were indulging in that midday 
sleep which they of the Spanish islands term the 
“ siesta” Fortunate it was for us, as the sequel 
will prove, that no one observed the lifting of 
the slab, as I will now relate. The flat rock 
covered the entrance or exit to a subterranean 
passageway, which beneath our hut was about 
five feet deep. It appeared a mere pit, the which, 
when I had let myself down into, disclosed an- 

123 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


other opening, about three feet high, which 
made off nearly horizontally in the direction of 
the cliffs behind us. I was for exploring the 
passageway at once, and, encouraged by John, 
procured a candle and went in alone, while he 
watched the entrance and concealed the open- 
ing by a blanket across the open doorway of the 
hut. 

At first the passage was narrow, being like a 
fissure between ledges of rocks, with a roof 
formed by the wedging in of rocks fallen from 
above. These had ultimately become covered 
with soil and sand, and what was originally an 
opening out at the sea-level had also been filled 
with the washings up of the waves until it was en- 
tirely concealed. But who had discovered this 
exit and had dug the perpendicular pit that 
gave the concealed entrance into the horizontal 
passage ? That at least was of artificial construc- 
tion, as shown by the covering slab of rock. 

This question bothered me some as I made my 
way cautiously along the drift, crawling between 

124 


THE CAVE IN THE CLIFFS 


the natural walls on either side. But I resolved, 
be the discoverer alive or dead, to find out what 
lay at the other end of it. Nor did it take me 
long to reach the end of the passage, which 
after a short run had taken an upward course, 
showing that it had penetrated the backbone of 
the island formed by the mighty cliffs. Scram- 
bling upward, over a series of steps, I at last 
stepped out, as it were, by a side-door into an 
immense cavern, so broad and high and altogether 
spacious that I could not, with my dim light, 
begin to ascertain its extent. A glimmer of 
daylight at the western end of the cavern at- 
tracted me thither, and I found a natural window 
in the rock, through which, though it was covered 
by a screen of vines, I got a glimpse of the sea, 
and found by that I was two or three hun- 
dred feet above the strand where the hut was 
situated. 


125 







































































































































































CHAPTER IX 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 

T HE cavern I had so fortuitously discovered 
was evidently unoccupied, save by the 
bats and vampires that circled by the 
thousand o’erhead, the whirr of their wings, like 
to the sound of the sea, being at first disturbing. 
Whether or no there were other occupants I 
could not then ascertain, having to husband my 
candle for my return. It was enough for me, 
however, that this fine chamber was apparently 
vacant, and I was overjoyed at its discovery. 
Hither John and I could retreat, perchance, if 
sore pressed by foes, and I resolved to commence 
at once the collecting of ship’s provisions, arms, 
ammunition and articles of comfort, and store 
them away in this cave. That would be for a 
127 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


while comparatively easy, so long as the pirates 
did not disloge us from our hut or send us off on 
a cruise, for they had such o’er-abundance already 
stored in the island that they had not e’en given 
a thought to the provisions we had brought here 
aboard the “ Nancy.” 

It did not take me long to make the return 
trip to the hut, and there, as soon as I had made 
the circuit outside and ascertained that there were 
no listeners, I communicated all the facts to John. 
And his eyes did dance and his exclamations 
were most joyous, as he learned of our treasure. 
“ Oh, that we could go thither at once ! ” he 
exclaimed, again and again. “ But no, we must 
be most careful.” 

“ That in sooth must we,” I cautioned him. 
“ And the first thing is to so arrange the things 
within our hut as to conceal the opening withal.” 
We did this by making a rude framework like 
a bedstead upon four legs about two feet high, 
and over which we cast palm leaves and dried 
seaweed, covering them with such clothing as 
128 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 


would give the whole the appearance of a bed. 
Abjuring the hammock, thenceforth John 
reclined upon the couch ; though the former 
was still swung o’erhead for use upon occasions. 
The flat stone was removed to one side, so that 
there should be free entrance afforded on emer- 
gencies, but a plank covering was put in its 
place, lest some suspicious dog might sniff 
beneath the bed and discover the pit. The 
island, by the way, swarmed with wild dogs, 
which were not by any means pleasant beasts to 
meet, especially in the night. Those dogs that 
still clung to their masters were scarcely less wild 
than the others, and were exceedingly acute, so 
we feared them with good cause. 

A sea-chest, very heavy and cumbersome, was 
drawn up on the side next the door, and thus 
fended off observation of what was beneath the 
bed, while the usual litter of such a hut was 
enough to divert attention from the other side. 

No objection was made to my getting ashore 
all the provisions I wanted from the vessel, nor 

129 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


were my packages inspected, so that in the 
course of the next week or so I had smuggled 
to the hut, and thence to the cave in the cliffs, 
many muskets, pistols and cutlasses, besides 
great store of powder, bullets, flints and fuses. 

The floor of the cave, as I soon found, was 
covered with dry earth, and there was no damp- 
ness at all within ; whatever we carried there 
would be in no danger of spoiling from that 
cause. It was exceeding difficult to transport all 
these things, and in addition many sacks of 
salted provisions, cassava bread such as the 
Indians make, and articles of clothing, through 
the narrow passageway ; but at last I had 
accomplished it almost unaided, and, the time 
now having arrived when John could both 
stand and walk, I took him to view our snuggery. 
I chose high noon, as usual, when everybody 
else was asleep ; and yet I dared not venture to 
stay long, fearing some one might yet be prowl- 
ing about and by chance enter the hut while we 
were away. 

130 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 


It was worth all my toil to see the pleasure of 
the lad at his first glimpse of the great cavern, 
which for his benefit I illumined with the light 
of a torch. As the light gleamed on walls and 
pillars of crystal limestone, he uttered a cry of 
delight, for the picture was of surpassing beauty. 
And his joy was great, also, at sight of the 
various contrivances for comfort, especially the 
couches, and the vast store of provisions. 

The light that shone through the seaward 
window was strong enough to illumine the cave 
without artificial aid, so I extinguished the torch 
and we sat awhile in silence, hand clasped in 
hand, looking out upon the sea. That window 
seat was to be a hallowed spot to me and to him, 
afterward whence he was to watch for my 
coming, and many a day and night in vain. It 
commanded a view of the whole harbor and far 
into the offing, so that we frequently had knowl- 
edge of a vessel’s approach before those below us 
on the shore were aware of it. 

When John and I emerged from the pit, a ml 
X 3 X 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS. 


were just about to crawl from out beneath the 
cot that covered its mouth, we received a shock 
that sent the blood tingling through our veins. 
For there in the doorway of the hut stood an old 
man, whistling softly to himself and gazing out 
to sea. He seemed not to see us, but we knew well 
that his indifference was feigned, for he had too 
shrewd a face to be unaware that we had just 
popped out of a hole beneath the bed. But he 
gave no sign that he had seen, other than his 
mere presence there, which was in itself disturb- 
ing, of course. 

“ Hello, youngsters/’ he exclaimed in greeting, 
when we had finally risen from our recumbent 
position and stood erect, at the side of the bed 
opposite the door. “ Thought I ’d call to make 
friends with you, and, finding nobody to home, 
just waited till you come back. That ’s right, 
wa’n’t it? I ’m an old residenter here in 
Tortuga, and you, I take it, are newcomers.” 

We hardly knew how to meet him at first, we 
were so abashed at being discovered, and afraid 


132 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 


withal that he might betray us. But as he 
pulled out a jackknife from his pocket and began 
whittling most unconcernedly a piece of soft 
wood, in a manner that could not but put us 
at our ease, we quickly recovered our composure. 
We urged him to sit down, or swing in the 
hammock, as he might elect to do, but he pre- 
ferred standing up to sitting, “ if it ’s all the 
same to you,” he remarked. “ Kinder lonely here, 
ain’t it?” was his next question. 

We assured him that it was, and then, there 
being something very friendly in his appearance, 
we made no bones of entering freely into con- 
versation with him, for which we were soon well 
rewarded, in sooth. He was about sixty years 
old, he told us, but his appearance betokened 
twenty years more, his face was so seamed with 
wrinkles ; one eye was gone and a piece of one 
ear, and his nose had been broken. He was short 
and stout, and to his left limb, which had been 
cut off at the knee, was strapped a wooden leg. 

“ I ’m a Yankee,” he said, after we had 
i33 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


settled down for a talk, “ and you fellers, if I ’m 
not mistaken, are Britishers.” We told him we 
were, and he nodded his head sagaciously. 
“ Thought so. In fact, knew it. Could have 
told by the cut of your jibs. And, then ag’in, 
I ’ve heard something about your coming here, 
too. Guess I have, and the fight you put up for 
my brother buccaneers. It was a good one, too, 
and I don’t mind telling you so to your faces. 
Could n’t have done better myself, if I do say 
it. And, ag’in, I don’t mind telling you that 
I ’m mighty glad you laid out a lot of them 
rascals, no matter if they were shipmates of 
mine, so to speak. They deserved all they got, 
and more, too, and, Mister Gilbert, I would like 
to shake your flipper. Shake, old man ! By 
gum, it feels good to git an honest feller by the 
hand once more. It does, and no mistake. 
It ’s more ’n twenty year sence I ’ve taken an 
honest man by the hand ; for, let me tell you 
now, there ain’t another one on this island ! 
That ’s a fact, sure ’s my name ’s Eli Herrick. 

*34 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 


Let me shake the youngster’s hand, too. What ’s 
the matter with him, anyway ? He looks kinder 
peakid.” 

“Oh, one of your buccaneer friends was 
rough with him,” I explained, “ and he got a 
cut that may lay him up for a long time yet.” 

“And I would n’t have been alive to-day if 
it had n’t been for Humphrey,” exclaimed John, 
eagerly. “ He saved my life.” 

“ He did, hey ? Well, it was mighty good of 
him ; but I don’t know ’s he did you any great 
favor, though, if you ’ve got to spend it here in 
Tortuga. Howsomever, while there ’s life 
there ’s hope, and though I have been here 
more ’n twenty year without seeing a chance to 
get away, seems to me we three ought to think 
up some sort of a scheme to outwit these var- 
mints. Don’t you think so ? ” 

John and I looked at each other without 
speaking, each asking with his eyes if this new- 
comer could be trusted. There was such a frank 
air about him that we could not but think so, 

9 — For Frey and Spoils. 


I 35 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


and at last I said : “ But where could we go, even 
if we could get away ?” 

“ Trust that to me, boys,” answered the 
Yankee. “ But I see you don’t quite trust me 
yet ; do you ? No, don’t say you do, for I don’t 
expect it of you yit. There ain’t no reason why 
you should trust me — that ’s a fact; but you ’ll 
have to take me that way, anyhow. And while 
we ’re about it, guess you might ’s well tell me 
what you ’ve got stowed away under that cot 
there. Lucky for you it wa’ n’t some of the 
gang that come here while you were out of sight, 
for I expect it might get you into trouble with 
old Morgan. He ’s always prying round a peek- 
ing into things that ain’t none of his business, 
and if he wa’n’t away, he and Mansvelt, on one 
of their piratical expeditions, guess you ’d look 
purty nice ; now, would n’t you ? ” 

I saw there was nothing to do but make a 
clean breast of it, and tell him about the cave, 
into which, after we had assured ourselves that 
no one was coming, I took him on a hasty trip. 

136 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 


He was penetrated with admiration, and ex- 
claimed again and again : “Ah, this is just the 
place I ’ve been looking for ever sence I got 
here. Now we will circumvent the whole lot of 
’em; see if we don’t. Just give us time enough, 
and we ’ll not only git away, but blame me if 
we don’t take half their treasure with us; hey?” 

“ But, would that be right?” I inquired when 
he said this. 

“ Right, you goosey ; of course, it would. 
Right enough, if only we can get the treasure ; 
and I know where there ’s more ’n a million 
pounds’ worth this very minute, stowed away up 
there in the cliffs. Right? Well, that makes 
me laugh ! Whose treasure is it, hey ? It ain’t 
tlieirn, and, if we can get it, it ’s as much ours 
as ’t is theirn. If we have it, perhaps some time 
we can return some of it to the rightful owners; 
though as to that, guess most of ’em are dead, 
killed while defending their prop’ty. The fact 
is, I ’ve seen some of ’em murdered in cold blood, 
right before my eyes, and had to stand by and 
137 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


help do it, too, or pretend to, else I ’d have got 
my throat cut quicker ’n a wink.” 

So it was settled before the visitor left us that 
we should make the cavern a repository of all 
sorts of things that might be useful to us in the 
future, including as much of the pirates’ treasure 
as we could lay our hands on. Our Yankee 
friend was determined on this, and he had his 
way, despite my scruples. It really seemed to me 
like taking that which belonged to another, as I 
mentioned to him. 

“ Yes, so it does,” he assented ; “ but the ques- 
tion is to find out who that other is ! It ’s as 
likely to be you or me as anyone else ; ain’t it ? 
The plunder these scoundrels have gathered to- 
gether here comes from every p’int of the com- 
pass : some of it from Spanish galleons sailing 
up from the Isthmus, some from other treasure 
ships from Mexico bound for Spain, some from 
English ships, some from French and some 
from Dutch ; some again from the sacking of 
cities on the Main. Now, whose plunder is it, 
138 


THE OLDEST BUCCANEER ALIVE 


think you ? Is it these pirates’ plunder more ’n 
yours or mine, prithee ? No, forsooth, it now 
belongs to him with the keenest wit or strongest 
arm. And if our wits more than match their 
arms, it belongs to us ! Now, that ’s logic, as my 
old grandsire was wont to say. It ’s the logic 
of might makes right!” 

It turned out on further conversation that our 
friend was an American sailor, a Yankee fisher- 
man, as he was used to proudly say, who could 
turn his hand to anything, “ and do it as well as 
the next one.” Born on a seaside farm and nur- 
tured as much on the sea as on land, he was a 
queer compound of independence and shrewd 
wit. He had been used, he said, to look out for 
himself from the time he could walk, and before 
he was my age he was aboard a fisherman as 
cook’s assistant. At sixteen, taking a winter 
cruise to the West Indies, he was overhauled by 
the buccaneers and sold into slavery — as will 
further appear. 

“ But they hain’t killed me, and, mark my 
*39 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


word, I ’ll see the last mother’s son of ’em hanged 
yet to some yardarm or other. For my father 
was a soldier as well as a sailor, and he and 
I fit with Gen’ral Pepperell before the walls 
of Louisburg.” 

“And mine,” said I, “was in the army of 
King Charles at Naseby.” 

“And my father,” piped in John, “was in 
Cromwell’s gallant army.” 

140 


CHAPTER X 


HOW THE WHITE SLAVE PURCHASED HIS 
FREEDOM 

“AH, lio,” laughed Eli Herrick. “ Here’s 
1 I a pretty kettle of fish : A Yankee, a 
Roundhead and a Cavalier ! Each 
one of us had a soldier for a father, and each 
one fought for a different cause.” 

“But each one fought for the right, as he 
thought then,” said John. 

“Well, maybe; we won’t quarrel about it. 
The fact remains that he fit and was a soldier^ 
and that we, the sons of soldiers, ought to have 
enough fighting blood in our veins to give us a 
little glory on our own account. What say you, 
friend Humphrey Gilbert ? ” 

“ I say, I ’ve had enough of fighting, and 
would much rather run away.” 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Don’t believe it ; anyway, your record don t 
show it. Howsomever, you ’ll get your fill of 
fighting ere you get out of this piratical trap. 
Mind your eye, now, this is sure as preaching.” 

By this we were outside the hut, sitting in the 
shade of the palms. The sun beat down fiercely 
upon the sands, but the sea-breeze blew freshly 
upon us and made the air gratefully cool. Declin- 
ing on the sands, John and I listened to Eli Herrick, 
as he told us what lie knew of the island and its 
people, intermixed with some account of himself. 
First, he told us he came to have such liberty 
that day on account of his companions being all 
engaged in a foray upon the neighboring island 
of Haiti, which lay, large and beautiful to the 
view, across a two-league channel to the south 
and east. They had had some trouble with the 
planters there, and such of them as were not off 
on the cruise with Morgan and Mansvelt had taken 
their boats in order to descend upon the main 
island. Eli Herrick had watched his opportunity 
to escape from going on the foray — for it was no 
142 


THE WHITE SLAVE’S FREEDOM 


quarrel of his own, lie said — and had slipped 
over to our side of the island to satisfy his curiosity 
as to ourselves. He had heard of what we had 
done, and in a measure who we were, but 
wanted to see for himself. 

“ Now, you must know,” he said in the begin- 
ning, " this island we are now on is called 
Tortuga, inasmuch as it is said to somewhat 
resemble in shape a great sea-turtle, for which 
the Spanish is Tortuga de Mar . They tell me 
it was first found by a wise old Spaniard called 
Christopher Columbus, who has the name of 
having discovered America ; though as to that 
I don’t know, not having had much edication — 
leastwise only such as I have picked up at sea.” 

“ Yes, said John, “ that ’s what I ’ve read in 
the history, and he came here in 1492, sailing 
back to Spain with the first information the 
Europeans ever had of these islands.” 

“ Well, then, that goes,” rejoined Eli Herrick. 
“ So far so good. Chris., he come here and he 
give the name to this island. Then he sailed 
M3 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


across the channel on the south of it, and put in 
at the larger island of Haiti — which you can see 
any time you want to by climbing up them rocks 
and looking to the s’utliard. They say the 
Spaniards had it all their own way in these 
waters till about a hundred year ago, when along 
come an old nigger stealer named Hawkins, who 
had made a voyage to the coast of Africa, and 
where he filled up his ships with blackamoors 
and brought t’em to the Spanish islands to sell. 
He did so well that another Britisher called 
Drake — I always remember his name because it 
reminds me of duck — ” 

“ And I remember it,” I broke in, “ because 
he was from my own Devonshire, and he was a 
gallant knight.” At which words of mine John 
nodded hearty assent; for he too was from 
Devon, and our eyes filled at the thoughts of 
those we had left behind us there. 

“ That so ? ” asked Eli Herrick, carelessly, 
not feeling the full import of the words to us. 
“ Well, your gallant knight, Sir Francis, played 
144 


THE WHITE SLAVE’S FREEDOM 


clucks and drakes with the Spaniards, so an old 
sailor told me, and is somewhat responsible for 
the war that followed between his country and 
Spain. Howsomever, things went from bad to 
wuss after the English privateers got into the 
Caribbean Sea, and along about thirty or forty 
years ago some French and English settlers in 
the island of Saint Kitts, over to the east’ard of 
here, were set upon by a Spanish Don and 
driven from their plantations. Some of ’em 
sailed away, and finally brought up at this here 
island of Tortuga, where they met some gallant 
tars, and formed a sort of combination against the 
Jack Spaniards. Some were French, and some 
were Dutch, and some ag’in were Britishers; 
but all were desp’rit men, every mothers son of 
’em — made so by the acts of the Spaniards. 
And inasmuch as the Spaniards had done them 
all injury, so they leagued themselves together 
ag’inst ’em. And that ’s 4 how this band of 
pirates began that you find on this island to-day. 

“ Fust they were called ‘ Filibusteros ’ by the 
145 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Spaniards, because of the little boats they used, or 
‘ filibotes,’ but after awhile they got to be known 
as buccaneers, or boucaniers, which an old sailor 
who was one of ’em told me meant ‘ Meat Smokers.’ 
You see, it come about in this way : When there 
got to be a consid’ble number of ’em, they divided 
up into three sorts or parties, one to plant, one 
to hunt, and the other to roam the sea. The 
party that hunted gen’rally went over to Haiti, 
where the woods are full of wild cattle, and 
there they killed the animals and smoked the 
meat for bringing it over here and preserving it 
when at sea. Now, the smoking of the meat is 
called by the Indians who live over there 
‘ Boucan,’ and so that ’s the way the Boucaniers 
got their name. But you may call ’em by any 
name you choose, my boys, and there is only one 
word fits ’em, and that is PIRATE — and write 
it big ! 

“ How many are there here now, when all are 
to home ? Oh, about fifteen hundred, all told, big 
and little pirates and prisoners, boys and girls, 
146 


THE WHITE SLAVE’S FREEDOM 


women and Injun salvages. ’Nough of ’em, by 
the blue blazes ! 

“ How ’d I get here ? Well, friend Humphrey, 
I did n’t swim, bet your boots; and I did n’t 
come of my own accord, any more ’n you did, I 
guess. B’lieve I told you that the vessel I was 
in was taken off the north coast of Haiti, the 
cap’n, mate, and most of the sailors murdered in 
cold blood, and a few of us saved and brought here. 
I call it being kidnapped ; don’t know ’s you 
do. Howsomever, that ’s about the size of it. 
And not only was I kidnapped, but when I got 
here I was sold a slave to one of the boucaniers. 

“ Did he treat me well ? Look here.” Our 
friend rose to his feet, stripped off his shirt 
and showed us his bare back, which was striped 
with welts and scarred in divers places. Oh, it 
was a horrible sight, and I grieved that this old 
man should have suffered so much. Both John 
and myself showed our sympathy by the tears 
that welled to our eyes, and by our exclamations, 
at which Eli Herrick was greatly touched. He 
i47 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


gripped our hands, as they were extended to 
him, and he looked into our faces and burst into 
tears. Then he sank to the sand again and 
buried his face in his hands, sobbing bitterly the 
while. 

“ Dang it all,” he burst forth at last, drawing 
the back of his hand across his eyes ; “ I never 
meant for any man or boy ever to see me cry. 
But you are the first humans in many long years 
who have spoken words of sympathy to me. 
And though my master lashed me till my back 
was raw, then rubbed into the bleeding wounds 
the juice of lemons, mixed with salt and pepper, 
yet he never saw me cry nor heard me beg for 
mercy. Ah, God, but it is good to weep ! 
Why did he lash me? Who knows but the 
divel? He was himself a fiend, if ever there 
was one, but no worse than the rest. They are 
all divels. But this one — ah, but I shall give 
his blood for dogs to drink ere I get through 
with him! He thinks I have forgot. Forgot? 
Ha, ha!” 


148 


THE WHITE SLAVE’S FREEDOM 


Eli Herrick’s face was working with wrath, 
his fists clenched and his chest heaving with 
excitement, as he rose to draw on his shirt. 
And I blamed him not; more, I aided and 
abetted him in the design he later concerted 
against his former masters. 

“ How did I get my liberty?” he said at last, 
repeating our inquiries after his wrath had some- 
what cooled. “Well, such liberty as I have 
came to me through purchase. The hound 
thought he had killed me after stripping and 
tying me to a tree and lashing me until I fainted 
from loss of blood. He placed me in the hands 
of a chirurgion (surgeon or doctor) who, seeing 
that there was yet hope of life, and feeling some- 
what of compassion for me, offered my master 
seventy pieces of eight for me, which he eagerly 
accepted. Under the chirurgion’s care I re- 
covered, but only to find in him a hardly less cruel 
master than the other, though he did not beat me. 
I was nearly naked, scarred — as you have seen me 
— worn down to the bone ; and even though I 
149 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


gained strength again, I was such a sorry sight 
that ray new master repented of his bargain. 

“Now, about this time, as I was prowling 
about by myself, seeking only to get well, I was 
mercifully assisted by Providence : that is, I 
found the hiding-place of a coffer containing 
more ’n a thousand pieces of eight. Taking 
out two hundred pieces of eight, I returned the 
coffer to its hiding-place and went to seek my 
master, with a new hope in my heart. I knew 
what he had paid for me, and when I offered 
him for my liberty one hundred pieces of eight 
he jumped at the bargain at once. But lie re- 
jiented him when he had got the money almost 
in his hands, thinking to get other pieces of 
eight, perchance a hundred more. But I was 
wary, bitter experience having taught me its 
lesson ; hence I had brought him only fifty at 
the first, having buried the other fifty in the sand, 
and the remaining hundred eke in yet another 
spot. So when he haggled with me he got 
nothing for his pains, and finally, in the presence 
150 


THE WHITE SLAVE’S FREEDOM 


of witnesses, he agreed to take what I offered him 
and sign a release. 

“ You have heard perhaps that there is honor 
among thieves. Well, it is true that there is a 
certain sort of honor here. I am now a free 
man, and no one durst enslave me again. But 
still we are all in slavery of the most foul kind, 
being bound by oath to serve our leaders in 
whatsoever service they shall command. The 
penalty of disobedience is death ; but other than 
this there is nothing to fear. Death is nothing 
once you are used to it ; hey ? ” 

Eli Herrick was in reckless mood from think- 
ing upon the sufferings he had endured, per- 
chance, and when I replied : “We should have 
no fear of this life’s death, only death of the 
soul,” he rejoined : “ Oh, you ought to be a par- 
son! I can see it* by the cut of your jib. But 
preachin' don’t go down on this island, so let me 
warn you fellers. Not that I ’m ag’in it, but 
the others are. 

“Howsomever, do as you please; only if you 

io—For Frey and Spoils. j ^ j 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


preach you ’ll get your head taken off in short 
meter. And, friends Humphrey and John, I 
don’t want that to happen. You ’re the fust 
friends I ’ve found sence I joined the ‘ Brethren 
of the Sea.’ You liain’t been taken in yet; but 
soon ’s the leaders get back you ’ll have to take 
the oath and sign the articles, or walk the plank, 
so you ’d better be making up you minds. My 
advice is to do it; for an oath under compulsion, 
you know, don’t count, and a lie to a pirate is 
rather a credit — provided you make anything 
by it. That ’s our code of morals, or a leaf out 
of the book, and I quote it for your benefit.” 

John and I were too depressed to make an- 
swer, seeing which the good fellow tried to cheer 
us up: “ Come,” he said, rising and stretching 
himself, “take a climb with me to the top of the 
cliffs, and I ’ll show you a bit of paradise. 
Take the boy by one arm, friend Humphrey, 
and I ’ll take him by the other, and ’twixt the 
two of us he will get there soon as we do.” 

After a hard climb over the rough rocks, 

!52 


THE WHITE SLAVE’S FREEDOM 


taking many a rest for breathing spells, ever and 
anon stopping also to look at the fair view out- 
spread with ever increasing extent at our feet, we 
finally arrived at what may be truly called the 
backbone of the island of Tortuga. The rock was 
covered with soil along the ridge, and great trees 
grew thereon — trees that rose up high toward the 
clouds and spread their giant limbs athwart. 
They were hung with long vines like tangled 
ropes, and many strange plants sat astride their 
branches decked with gorgeous flowers. 

Peering through the open space betwixt the 
trees, we could see off on either side the island, 
northwest and southeast; below us the little 
harbor, where our ill-fated “ Nancy ” lay rocking 
on the swell, a toy ship in the distance. But 
southwardly was the grandest view of all, for 
there was no horizon, as on the north, it being 
interrupted by the great island of Haiti, which 
the Spaniards named Hispaniola, extending as 
far as the eye could reach. Our island of 
Tortuga was but twenty miles in length, and the 
*53 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


eye could measure it e’enmost ; but that of Haiti 
was vast as well as beautiful. Purple mountains 
rose above the clouds, beneath which were broad 
areas of vivid greens, black gulches and ravines, 
dense forests, sparkling rivers in cascades, water- 
falls, hurrying toward the coast, where curving 
beaches of white sand lay between the blue sea 
and the fields. We would fain have gazed oil 
this fair scene for hours — John and I — but 
hardly had we swept it once over with a glance 
when our friend pulled us back. “ Down, 
down ! ” he said ; “ the pirates are returning ! ” 
i54 


CHAPTER XI 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 

T HE placid sea that washed the coast of 
Haiti was alive with small boats, such as 
in the olden time gave to the buccaneers 
the name of “ fleibotiers,” or freebooters, from 
the Dutch “ fleibotes.” They seemed to be push- 
ing out from a beautiful bay about two leagues 
across from our isle ; but, of a sudden, as a puff 
of smoke shot up from the woods ashore, they 
turned them again to land, as if the conflict they 
had been engaged in was about to be resumed. 
We had lingered to note this much, and seeing 
it Eli Herrick burst out laughing. 

“ It was a false alarm,” he said, “ and the 
rascals are not yet coming back. Let us sit 
down here beneath this huge tree, where we can 
*55 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


command a view of all that happens over there, 
and while you have before you the scene of some 
of the boucaniers’ bloodiest battles, I will relate 
what I know of our famous forerunners. For 
we are ourselves boucaniers, you know, whether 
of our choice or perforce ; so those who founded 
the brotherhood are surely of interest to us. 

“ I told you how the boucaniers came to for- 
tify here and how they got their name, but of 
their rash exploits I have as yet said naught. 
Right over there, on those smiling slopes of 
Haiti, they first gained the name of ‘boucaniers/ 
for there is where they went to hunt wild hogs 
and cattle and where they ‘boucanned’ their 
flesh. The island swarmed with animals which 
had run wild after escaping from the Spaniards, 
who were the first settlers on that island. Up in 
the hills, but far, far out of sight, is their old 
city of Santiago, which they founded soon after 
discovering the island, and named in honor of 
their great war-saint, Tiago, or James ; and over 
on the south coast is the capital city, Santo Do- 
156 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


mingo, founded, they tell me, by Bartholomew, 
a brother of Chris. Columbus. Howsomever, the 
Spaniards have been there more than one hun- 
dred and seventy years, and though they now 
hold but a tithe of what they once possessed, 
having shrunk into their cities’ walls, like a tur- 
tle within its shell, owing to our depredations, 
they still hold the forts and strongest places. 

“ The boucaniers, then, were the hunters on 
land, but they were in partnership with the hun- 
ters by sea, who were called fleibotiers, or free- 
booters, and all together were joined into one 
great band known as the Brethren of the Sea. 
When the men of one class grew tired of murder- 
ing or hunting, as the case might be, they would 
get a change by adopting the other pursuit, so 
there was no real distinction between the two, 
after all. I have been a boucanier, and also 
a fleibotier, but of the two I much prefer the wild 
life of the woods. 

“ Who was the first freebooter? Well, that is 
hard to tell ; but old Stumpy told me that they 
i57 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


called him Pierre le Grand, or Peter the Great, 
and he was a native of Normandy in France — ” 
“ Who was old Stumpy ? ” 

“ Now, friends, if you keep interrupting me I 
slia’n’t get on with my story before our brethren 
over there return; and that means there won’t 
be any time at all, perhaps, to tell it. But, I 
will say old Stumpy is a pirate with a wooden leg, 
a great crony of mine, who is probably the oldest 
boucanier in the world — that is to say, in Tor- 
tuga. He is pensioned off on account of his 
record and his wounds, received in past battles, 
and lives in a little hut on the east side, down 
near unto the sea. Now, don’t ask me how he 
lost his leg, nor anything else to interrupt, for 
some time I will take you over to see him, and 
you can get it all from him. But let me warn 
you he ain’t a pretty man to look at, nor a nice 
one to listen to, either. He is chipped up almost 
into little bits, has lost an eye, an ear, a piece of 
his nose, three or four fingers, and two toes off of 
the only leg he ’s got left ! 

158 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


“ Now, as I was about to say, the very first 
boucanier who made a great name for himself 
was Peter the Great, and he was a frog-eater 
from Normandy who drifted out here somehow or 
other, and was always cruising about a-looking 
for trouble. He was a fleibotier, and went about 
with a band of cutthroats just as bad as he was. 

“ Well, one time they had been out so long that 
all their dried beef was eaten up and their water 
nearly gone ; in fact, they were in a desprit 
case, when, just in the nick of time, along 
comes a big three-decker galleon, one of the 
king of Spain’s treasure-ships, and what does 
Peter the Great do but resolve to take it. 
And he in his little bit of a fleibote, too — just 
think of that! Oh, he was a corker, he was; 
don’t care a bit if he was a frog-eater. Well, 
his men they backed him up, for they were that 
desprit they would have tackled anything alive, 
I guess, and so they run alongside the three- 
decker and hailed her. Their fleibote was so 
small the men on the galleon had n’t taken no 
x 59 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


notice of her at all, and when the watch reported 
to the capt’in that there was a bit of a boat 
below hailing the ship, lie said with a laugh: 
‘ Oh, h’ist ’em aboard and darned if they did n’t 
throw Peter a rope and take him in tow. It 
was about dusk at that time, and them on deck, 
being so high up above the water, could n’t see 
what was happening below, and the next thing 
they knew they did n’t know nothing, so to 
speak : for what does Pete and the other pirates 
do but each one takes a cutlass between his teeth, 
jams his belt full of pistols, and climbs up the 
ship’s side like monkeys up a cocoanut tree. 

“ Su’prised ? You just bet they were — them 
Dagos on deck — and before they rallied Pete 
and his gang was onto ’m, cut and slash, bangity- 
bang, until they had laid out every mother’s son 
in sight. Then they made for the cabin, where 
the high muckamuck of the galleon, Senor Don 
Sometliing-or-Other, was a-playing cards (monte, 
prob’ly) and drinking wine to the king’s taste. 
Pell-mell down the cabin steps tumbled Pete, 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


and his crew close behind him, cutlasses atween 
their teeth and a pistol in each hand, and they 
did n’t say nothing, but just stood there with the 
noble Don and his friends under cover. 

“ ‘ Caramba carambola, Santa Maria purissima,’ 
etcetery, etcetery, spluttered the noble Don, 
looking up from his cards. 4 What ’s this, all 
hell emptied itself into my ship?’ 

“ ‘ That ’s about the size of it/ replied Pete 
the Great — and he was well named, too, I vum — 
‘ That ’s about the size of it, and this here ’s the 
divel himself come to call you down’ — or words 
to that effect. 

“Well, blame me if all them Don Dagos 
did n’t crawl, and the upshot of it was the great 
galleon, with its belly full of* silver ingots from 
the mines of Peru, on the way to fill the King of 
Spain’s treasury at Seville, became the prize of 
Peter the Great. He knew a gentleman when 
he saw him, Pete did, and he said to the noble 
Don and his friends, says he : 4 There ain’t nothing 
mean about me, there ain’t, and I ’m going to 
161 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


swap my ship for yourn. Fair exchange is no 
rob’ry, and I ain’t no robber, so I ’ll put you 
and your officers into the fleibote and take 
charge of this here galleon.’ Which he did, 
though, of course, the noble Don and the rest 
kicked like goats. 

“ But what ’s the good ? They were bundled 
into the fleibote, with water and provisions 
enough to last ’em to Cuby — which was only a 
day’s sail off — and Peter and his gallant crew 
brought the galleon into port. Yes, brought her 
into our little harbor there, right where that 
vessel of yourn lays now. 

“ But he did n’t stay there, Peter did n’t. 
He was of the sort that knowed when he had 
enough, Pete was, and he soon set sail for 
France, where Stumpy says he set himself up 
for a gentleman, and is there now, for aught that 
I know. 

“ It happened that the King of France and 
the King of Spain were at odds, and so Peter’s 
little game was winked at and called a mighty 
162 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


cute sort of privateering ; whereas, if bigwigs 
had n’t been at odds, it would have been called 
piracy, and Peter might have adorned the end of 
a rope at a yardarm aboard a man-of-war. 

“ There ’s all the difference imagin’ble in a 
name, you know. It don’t matter how many 
men you kill, s’ long ’s you do it under the 
right name. But now you just bear in mind 
that there ain’t no war between England and 
Spain right now, and if we kill any Jack 
Spaniards, and are taken by a king’s ship, 
we ’re mighty likely to hang for it, short meter, 
by gum ! 

“ Was Stumpy with ’em, and if so why did n’t 
he cut stick and go to France with Peter ? Yes, 
he was, but inasmuch as, that was where he lost 
his leg and had one of his eyes put out, he 
wa’n’t in a fit condition to leave. He just had 
to stay, and see Pete walk off with the yellow 
boys. And that ’s gen’r’lly the case : the master 
gets the treasure and the common sailor gets 
the whacks and bruises. 

163 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Any more pirates do anything after that ? 
Well, I should say so. There was more ’n you 
could shake a stick at in a week of Sundays, 
and, what ’s more, they’re at it still, just as farce 
as ever. Now, there was a one they called Bart. 
Portugues, Stumpy told me, because he come 
from Portugal. It ain’t often that a dog ’ll eat 
dog; but this Portuguese Dago one time run 
across a Spanish Dago, and licked him clean out 
of his boots, so to speak. 

“ He had a fleitbote with four little guns in it 
and a crew of thirty men, and was cruising on 
the south coast of Cuby, when he run up ag’inst 
a big Spaniard of twenty guns and seventy men. 
He could n’t get away, so he up and gives 
battle, w r ith the result that he took the big 
feller, after losing half his men ; but he did n’t 
care for that. His prize had about a hundred 
thousand pieces of eight aboard and a cargo of 
a hundred and twenty thousand cocoanuts. 

“ He tossed his captives and the cocoanuts 
overboard and set sail for Tortuga, but was 

164 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


unfort’nit enough to run into a fleet of Spanish 
ships and was taken red-handed. He and all 
his crew were made prisoners ; but instead of 
hanging ’em on the spot, as they ought to have 
done, the Dons set sail for Campeche, in order to 
have the execution legal like — or most likely to 
give their friends ashore a share in the fun — 
and so Bart. Portugues stabbed the sentry that 
was set on him, leaped overboard and somehow 
escaped. At all events, Stumpy says he did n’t 
get drownded ; but wa’n’t no good after that, not 
being able to get any following, and so died a 
fugitive, after all his daring. 

“ Then there was Pierre Francois, who, with a 
small boat and about the same number of men 
that Peter the Great had, attacked the pearl fleet 
off the Spanish Main. This fleet was guarded by 
a man-of-war, but Francois sought out the ship 
having the richest cargo of pearls, valued at more 
than fifty thousand pieces of eight, and would 
have made off with her if her mainmast had n’t 
gone by the board in a gale of wind. As he 
165 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


liad scuttled his own vessel, there he was, at the 
man-of-war’s mercy, which bore down upon 
him and recaptured his prize. But somehow the 
boucanier made terms with the Spanish vice- 
admiral and got off scot free, only losing two 
ships by the venture, his own and the one he 
had taken. 

“ Who do I s’pose was the very wust pirate 
that ever lived here ? Well, that ’s a hard ques- 
tion to answer, I vum. They ’re all bad enough, 
just you fix that in your noddles; but p’raps 
there wa’n’t no wusser pirate ever breathed than 
Boclie Brazil iano. That ’s what the Spaniards 
called him, the Brazilian Bock, because he w T as 
hard as a rock and had lived in Brazil. 

“ And how he did hate the Spaniards, to be 
sure ! Why, he terrorized the whole caboodle 
of ’em all the w T ay from the Gulf of Paria to 
Darien. And no wonder, either, for one time he 
caught a lot of Spaniards and roasted ’em alive 
on spits before open fires in the forest. And all 
166 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


because they would n’t, or could n’t, tell him 
where their droves of hogs were kept. 

“Ah, he sacked lots of cities on the Main and 
he gained a lot of treasure ; but he squandered it 
all in riotous living. Why, he did n’t think 
nothing of coming here and throwing away 
more ’n ten thousand pieces of eight in a single 
night of drunken revelry. He would order all 
the puncheons of rum and casks of wine rolled 
out on the beach, then have their heads knocked 
in, and what he and his cutthroats could n’t 
drink they throwed away. Ah, it was sinful, 
the way he got his money and the way he squan- 
dered it. And his life went the same way. So 
far as I know, he never got punished for his 
sins — leastwise not in this world — unless dying 
the death of a drunkard was the punishment, 
which is mighty likely. 

“ But there was one man who could beat him 
all holler in deeds of blood, and he, I know, re- 
ceived his reward in kind. That was Francis 
Lolonois, another frog-eater, and he was perhaps 

// — For Prey and Spoils . 1 6 7 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


the bloodiest cutthroat that ever walked in shoe- 
leather. Stumpy says he was with him when 
he made his first captures, some small Spanish 
vessels. The governor of the island they had 
sailed from sent a war frigate after him, and 
that made Lolonois so mad that he turned to and 
captured that same vessel, though it was four 
times as big as his craft and five times as well 
manned. And he did n’t stop with the taking 
of the frigate, but he cut off the head of every 
man on it but one, and him he sent to the gov- 
’nor with the message that he was soon coming 
to cut his off, too. I don’t know whether he 
did it or not ; but if he did n’t he took it out of 
other miserable Spaniards, for he never let any 
person escape, but beheaded or hanged all his 
prisoners — and he prob’ly captured hundreds, 
some say thousands. 

“ He must have taken half a dozen Spanish 
cities, I s’pose, and made millions out of his 
prizes. Why, in his expedition against Maracaibo 
he got confessions from the leading citizens by 
1 63 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


torture as to where they had concealed their treas- 
ures, and when he come away he not only left a 
wake of blood behind, but brought more hi 
three hundred thousand pieces of eight, besides 
silver plate and jewels equal to as much more. 

“ But I ’in glad to say this pirate got his re- 
ward at last, and it was just the one he deserved, 
too, as I look at it. On his very next v’yage, 
when he was repeating his game in Nicaragua, 
he and his crew were set upon by Indians and 
tortured, as they had tortured hundreds of others. 
Lolonois was torn limb from limb, and each arm 
and leg was burned in his sight while he was 
still alive. That was an awful fate, but he brought 
it on himself, sure. 

“ Makes you shudder; don’t it? Well, I 
don’t blame you a bit. I used to shiver my- 
self when Stumpy first told me these tales ; 
but we get sorter used to ’em after awhile. 
They may say what they like about the bouca- 
niers, but there ’s one thing certain : they ain’t 
any of ’em afraid of resking their lives. I 

169 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


don’t like ’em, but I must say they ain’t any of 
’em cowards. 

“ What you say ? You hope there wa’n’t any 
more. Bless your innercent faces, I hain’t be- 
gun to tell you yet of ’em all. Why, there ’s 
old Jaques Michel, he was with Lolonois at 
Maracaibo, and one of the wust ones there, too, 
and he ’s here to-day. He was wounded in the 
hip, but, though he got hurt, he has the reputa- 
tion of being tol’ably humane. 

“ Strange, ain’t it ? He won’t hurt a fly, yet 
he ’ll go off on a trip where he ’s sure of shed- 
ding human blood without saying a word. I 
must take you over to see old Jaques some time. 
In fact, they ’s a lot of int’resting people on this 
island that you ought to know. There ’s Mister 
Morgan, for example. He ’s a jolly lark — he is. 
Nobody knows how he raised himself to his 
present place, right up even with Capt’in Mans- 
velt; but there he is, and there ain’t persons 
lacking who say he ’s bound to be our real leader 
before long. 


THE BRETHREN OF THE SEA 


“What, you ’ve seen him? Well, I don’t 
care ; you ain’t seen a great sight. He was born 
a farmer’s boy, they say, and now he ’s a sailor 
he ain’t nothing but a big, overgrown lout. 
And then there ’s Mounseer Mansvelt himself ; 
you know all about him. Ag’in, there was 
Illiger, another frog-eater ; Van Horne, the 
Dutchman, and ‘ Terror’ Johnson, the Britisher; 
three of a kind, but all of different country; so 
there ain’t much to boast of. I will say, though, 
that there ain’t never been any Yankee boucanier 
except me, that I know of, and I ain’t one through 
any fault of mine. 

“ But the Brethren are really on their way 
back now, and so we ’d better be gettin’ down. 
And look there — over to west’ard — blamed if 
Morgan and Mansvelt ain’t coming back, too, 
all sail set and headed licketty-split for the har- 
bor. Let ’s get down before they land, for they 
may want to see us, you know, and when them 
critters send for us there ain’t but one thing to 
do, and that is to go mighty sudden.” 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


So we went down to tlie beach, John and I 
in a daze at having heard so much of so many 
disreputable neighbors, but not doubting the 
truth of the report in the least. 

172 


CHAPTER XII 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 

W E were as though in a beleaguered 
castle, or in a ship attacked on either 
side, for the pirates were coming 
toward us from the north and from the south. 
We descended on the north side of the island, 
toward the harbor to which the vessels under 
command of Morgan and Mansvelt were hasten- 
ing and straining all their canvas. They had 
been gone during all the time I have covered in 
my narration — that is, since we had been left in 
peace. 

Uneasy we felt, of course, at the prospect of 
their coming, not knowing what was now in 
store for us, but being sure it was to our dis- 
quieting. But, as Eli Herrick said, they would 
173 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


have other things than concern about us to take 
up their attention, and perhaps we would escape 
their observation for a while. 

“ And while they are engaged in unlading 
their craft,” said he, “ I am going to remove all 
my ‘plunder’ to the vacant hut next yours, so 
we can be within hail when the storm breaks, 
you know. You two lambs ain’t able to take 
care of yourselves, and will eftsoon need my 
help. 

And before we get to be near neighbors I 
want you both to practice calling me Eli for 
short. I can’t stand being called ‘ Mister Eli 
Herrick,’ as if I was an esquire or mate of a ship. 
So if you don’t call me Eli, there ’ll be trouble 
’twixt me and you. And I ’m going to call you 
‘ Hump ’ and the wee one ‘ Jack ; ’ so there ’s no 
use talking any more about it. Hump you are 
and Jack he is ! ” 

Thus “Hump” I was, and John was “Jack,” 
while, “ for short,” the Yankee boucanier would 
have it, he was ever after “ Eli.” It did not 


174 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 


matter, of course, for the familiarity that breedeth 
contempt cometh not of the bestowal of names, 
but of the spirit. 

However, let us not linger at these details. 
Suffice it that the pirates brought their vessels 
into the harbor, and no sooner were the sails 
furled and the anchors cast than over the rails 
swarmed a horde of “ brethren ” into the small 
boats, and some in their eagerness to get ashore 
even dropped into the water and swam. John 
and I watched them through the crevices in our 
hut, while, as for Eli, he busied himself at 
setting his house in order, paying no attention 
whatever to the recent arrivals, who spread over 
the beach, some, and others made for their 
habitations. 

The last boatloads to come ashore were com- 
posed of a score or more of dejected individuals 
who seemed to be captives, as indeed they were : 
Spaniards who had been taken with the two 
strange galleons, that were by now being warped 
into the harbor. These poor wretches were 
H5 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


bundled out of the boats and driven a ways up 
the sands, where they were told to remain, at 
peril of being shot if they moved away. And 
there they sat the rest of the day, scarce daring 
to move for fear of their captors ; which showed 
that there had been a fearful time at the taking 
of their ships. 

Eli went out to look the captives over, and 
when he returned reported that they were mostly 
common sailors, but that among them was a 
Spanish Don of high degree, who even then 
looked “ as fierce as a meat axe,” though his 
hands were tied behind him, and a beautiful 
young girl, perhaps his daughter; besides another 
woman, evidently of humbler birth, who was 
probably her maid. They all had been cast 
upon the sands as though they were bundles 
of old clothes and by no means entitled to any 
consideration. 

“ The galleon they were in,” said Eli, “ made 
a hard fight against both our vessels, and several 
of our men were killed before the brethren 

176 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 


carried her by boarding ; and both Morgan and 
Mounseer were so enraged that they put nearly 
all the crew to the sword, reserving these they 
brought to the island for the sport of shooting 
on the morrow. They would have killed them 
all then and there, but our pretty men protested 
that it wa’n’t fair that those of us at home 
should n’t have a share in the ‘ fun,’ so the poor 
critters have been saved for shooting here on 
shore.” 

John and I expressed the horror we felt, and 
I began to have that creepy sensation at the 
roots of my hair, which I knew to be but the 
precursor to some deed of mine that I would not 
commit when in my normal state. In sooth, 
Eli noticed that my expression changed, and he 
seemed to divine instanter what it meant, for he 
said : “ Ha, I see by thy face, friend Humphrey, 
that thou wouldst go out and fight the brethren, 
all, perad venture it might avail, and, indeed, that 
thou art nerved to die if needs be in defence of 
the defenceless. Am I right ? ” 
i77 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ I don’t know,” I replied, absently, but 
clutching tightly my cutlass the while. “ Truly 
a strange feeling possesses me. I seem to be 
clutched by a daemon, in sooth, that moves me 
at its will. It must not be, Eli, this killing of 
those innocent people. We must prevent it, by 
whatever means in our power.” 

“We can’t do it: Leastwise, we can’t pre- 
vent the shooting of the men. But I tell you 
what I ’m going to attempt, if you ’ll aid me, 
and that is the rescue of the women. It shan’t 
be said of a Herrick that he allowed a woman to 
be shot down while he stood by alive. It would 
be impossible to save the whole lot, Hump, but 
perhaps we can cut out the women, if to-night 
is dark and we use discretion.” 

“ Anything, Eli, so we do what in us lies. I 
would save them all if possible ; and perhaps 
it may be yet. Are you sure they will be 
shot?” 

“ On the morrow, at sunrise, by Mounseer’s 
orders. That ’s what old Jaques told me. He 
178 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 


is one of the guards — the only one that ’s sober, 
in fact. He watches till midnight, when he is 
relieved, and the third watch is the one that is 
to do the shooting. That is, if all are not drunk ; 
and it will be something unusual if they ain’t. 

ic Heaven grant they may be,” I ejaculated. 

“ May I be shot if they ain’t ! ” retorted Eli, 
significantly. 

“ But what difference will it make ? The 
brethren can’t stay drunk all the time, now, can 
they ? And when they sober up, whether it’s 
to-morrow morning, or noon, or night, the 
capt’in’s orders will be carried out, or he will 
know what ’s what! You know that, Hump.” 

“I fear me, yes. Then, Eli, what we do 
must be done between the coniing of dusk and 
midnight. The sooner the better, for as I am 
now I feel that my heart will burst for the strain 
that is on me.” 

“ The lust of fighting, Hump; that ’s what ’t is. 
You just want to up and slay somebody. If 
it ’s a pirate, all right; but it has to be some- 

179 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


body. I wish a certain indiviclooal that I used 
to know, the feller that scarred my back, may 
run up ag’inst you to-night, Hump. It would 
save me the trouble of killing him, that ’s all ! ” 

“ Don’t, Eli, don’t. Not for worlds would I 
have the stain of blood on my soul. But yet 
those poor people must be saved, even if per- 
chance some blood be shed.” 

“ Trust me for the planning of it. We won’t 
do anything lia’sh to old Jaques, for I can fix 
him all right. He ’s an old crony of mine. But 
I tell you now it won’t be a bit of use trying to 
free ’em all. There ’ll be a pretty liow-de-do if 
we try it. So just leave it all to me and obey 
my orders to the letter. Hear?” 

“Yes, I ’ll try to; but it is awful, just the 
thought of leaving even two or three of them to 
their fate ! ” 

“Just so, just so; but we ’ll do the best we 
can. Let her go at that. But what ’s the 
lamb gawking at. Here ’s Jack drinking in 
every word we said, and not a word he says in 

i So 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 


reply. What say, lamb — will you fight, too? 
Speak up, my hearty. You never do say any- 
thing, anyway. Come, talk a little. ,> 

The boy shrank back abashed, for he was, in 
sooth, a timid youth. He came and put his arm 
around me; and I loved him the more for his 
timidity, together with his confidence in me, 
withal ; but he said nothing then, only later 
whispered : “ Don’t leave me alone long, dear 
Humphrey, and don’t run any too great risk.” 

“ Tush, tush, sweetheart, wouldst have us 
abandon a fair maiden in distress? Hast no 
sisters of thine own, Jack? Truly I know 
thou hast one, and fair she is, too, on my word.” 

At these words of mine, which were cruel of 
premeditation — for I wished to nerve him to the 
task of assisting us — the tears sprang straightway 
to his eyes, but yet the words failed not of their 
mission. 

“ Go, then, thou and Eli,” he said, “and the 
while I will pray that no harm befall. I will 
be brave, Humphrey, I will; but — but — ” 

181 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ I know, sweetheart, I know. Thou wishest 
me clear of all bloodguiltiness. Heaven grant 
so it may eventuate. But I am in God’s hands, 
Jack, dear. Whatsoever befalleth must be for 
the best. So rest thyself in mind while we are 
absent, and be ready to assist us swiftly if so be 
thou ’rt needed when we return.” 

“ That I will, Humphrey, dear. I ’ll stand 
guard and watch the exit of the cave, perad ven- 
ture thou ’It need quickly to enter.” 

“ That you must, youngster,” said Eli, speak- 
ing brusquely. “ Now, Hump, let us take a 
bite and a snifter to strengthen us for the fray. 
Are the pistols primed and the cutlasses of keen 
edge? Well and good; now set forth the prog, 
for verily I feel an appetite. I am faim , as our 
friend Mounseer has a habit of saying. What, 
not eat, Hump ? Guess you ’ll get used to a 
sniff of blood bymbye, when you ’re as old as I 
am and have been here as long. Makes you 
heartsick at the thought of it, hey? Well, 
don’t blame you a bit. Felt the same way my- 
182 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 


self, not only once but many times. But now 
I ’m hardened.” 

Had the occasion been less serious I might 
have smiled ; but, truth to say, I was far from 
feeling light of heart, and took his manner se- 
riously. So did Jack, I ween, and when a tear 
from his eye splashed on the back of Eli’^ hand, 
as he was attending upon his wants at our rude 
board, the Yankee laid aside his bluster and 
bravado at once. Leaping to his feet, he threw 
an arm around Jack’s shoulders and pressed him 
to his breast. “ Don’t cry, youngster,” he said, 
huskily; “it ’ll come out all right. Just pray 
for us both, and — and keep your eye peeled. 
When you hear us coming, have the pit’s open- 
ing clear and the torches ready for lighting. 
For there ’ll be no time to lose. Now I ’ll run 
out and take a survey,” he continued, gently 
releasing the astonished lad, and snatching up a 
brace of pistols, which he pushed into his belt. 
“ It ’s dark enough now for me to reconnowter 
without being seen, and if I find only old Jaques 

12 — For Frey ami Spoils. I 83 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


on guard the rest is easy. See this bottle, lads? 
It ’s filled with the wine of Xeres, which old 
Jaques loves as his life. Don’t know why, I ’m 
sure ; I never took to it, nor to any other liquor 
but the fiery water. But no matter, it ’s dosed 
with something else that he don’t know about, 
and warranted to put him to sleep in the wink 
of a bat’s eye. Kinder mean trick to play on a 
crony, ain’t it? But all ’s fair in a game of this 
sort. If I get the old man into trouble, I ’ll 
have to get him out, that ’s all. So-long. Wait 
here, Hump.” 

Eli slid out into the dusk, and Jack and I sat 
at the hut’s mouth in dread suspense. The lad’s 
head sank to my shoulder, and I will confess that 
my heart was filled with pain ; but I said noth- 
ing, fearing that which might unnerve me for 
my part, and which I was ready to play, come 
what would. So it was with great relief that I 
heard my name whispered from the dark outside 
the hut, and knew Eli had returned. 

“It ’s all right,” said he, looming up large in 
184 


HOW A FAIR MAIDEN WAS RESCUED 


the doorway. “ Better ’n I had reckoned on, 
for what d’ you s’pose? There ain’t nary a 
boucanier in sight; and, more ’n that, all the 
Spanish sailors have been taken away t’ other 
side the island, leaving the Don and the two 
women alone on the sands. Greatest luck in the 
world, sure ’s preachin’. Could n’t been done 
better if I ’d arranged the whole thing myself. 

“ There ain’t nothing to do now, Hump, ex- 
cept to march out with me and invite the Don 
and his friends into our cave. That ’s resky, I 
know, ’cause, of course, we ’ll be s’pected, and 
there ’ll be a mighty liow-de-do. So, if you mis- 
doubt the scheme, Hump, say so right now.” 

“No, no, let ’s get them out of harm’s way 
and trust to luck,” I responded. “ Perhaps we 
can hold them in the cave till the men have 
gone, and then set them adrift in a boat for 
Cuba.” 

“Well, yes, p’raps. Come on, then. But 
keep quiet, for I ain’t sure this may n’t be some 
sort of a trap sot a jm’pose to catch us.” 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


We stole out stealthily to where the Spaniards 
were stretched on the sand, and, ascertaining 
that there was no one else in sight, quickly 
roused them from the stupor that their fatigue 
and fright had plunged them into. The old 
Don bristled up like a tiger-cat, as I touched him 
on the shoulder, and the serving woman let out 
a scream, which Eli quickly muffled with his 
hand over her mouth ; but the maiden said not 
a word. She arose to an erect position, drew a 
mantilla about her head and shoulders, and, 
something seeming to assure her that we were 
friends, placed a hand in mine and allowed me 
to lead her away. 

Fortunate was it for us that the old Don un- 
derstood some few words of English, else we 
might have had a fight on our hands right there, 
unarmed as he was. But he knew what the 
word “ friend ” meant, as whispered in his ear, 
and went without a struggle; the more readily 
as we heard sounds as of a body of men ap- 
proaching, confused shoutings and the clash of 

1 86 


arms. 


CHAPTER XIII 

THE SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 

Y OU may well believe, reader, that we lost 
no time in leading the way to the pit’s 
mouth, and as quickly as possible urging 
our Spanish friends thereinto ; but it was one 
thing to show them the way and quite another 
to get them to travel it. For, as we considered 
it yet dangerous to light a candle or a torch, the 
gleam whereof might betray us to anyone out- 
side the hut, we had to grope in the dark. And 
it was no easy matter to indicate to the three 
foreigners, mostly by signs, as we had to, that 
they must duck beneath the cot, then drop into 
the pit, one at a time, and thence make their 
way through the subterranean passage to the 
cave above in the cliffs. 

187 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Me thinks there may have been positions in 
my life almost as trying as this, but not quite. 
The Don and his daughter were tractable 
enough, but not so the maidservant, who was 
prone to shriek out every moment, really be- 
lieving, I think, that we were going to bury her 
alive. I knew no more than a dozen or so of 
Spanish words, and those few would not come 
at my bidding ; while Eli’s Spanish was of a 
kind not readily understood. So there we were, 
huddled within the hut, all of us, Eli striving 
with all his might to quiet the servant, I to 
reassure the Don and the maiden, and John 
wringing his hands in sheer despair. 

Every moment was a precious one, of a 
surety, for outside there was a noise as of a 
pursuing party taking up the trail. 

At last I let drop the words “ subterreanean ” 
and “ cave,” at which the Don, most fortunately, 
caught with eagerness, turning to me and saying, 
“ Subterraneo y cueva ? ” which I at once 
guessed were Spanish words for an under- 
188 


SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 


ground passage and a cave, and said “yes” — si — 
with equal readiness, grasping at a straw, as it 
were. Then he turned to his companions, and 
said something to them in his own tongue in 
which occurred these words, and I knew he was 
explaining to them just what we wanted them 
to do. 

Then there was no more delay, for, one after 
another we dropped into the pit, I leading, the 
maiden following right after, and then the Don, 
with the maidservant at his heels. As soon as 
I had reached the passage leading out from the 
cave I lighted my torch— being then safely out of 
sight from any one in or near the hut — and our 
captives followed the light like moths pursuing 
a candle flame. There was no more hesitation, 
and in a few minutes we were all in the great 
chamber. I first hung a blanket over the vine- 
draped opening, lest the flicker of a light 
through it might betray our whereabouts, then 
motioned to the maiden to seat herself on one of 
the skin-covered couches, and the Don and 
189 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


servant to do the same. They obeyed with 
alacrity, and while they reclined at ease Eli 
and I mixed some wine and water for their 
refreshment. 

Needs not that I should say that they were 
grateful, when finally assured of safety and the 
integrity of our intention. The Don rose and 
embraced me, in true Spanish fashion, calling 
me “ liijo ” and “amigo” which I later learned 
were “ son ” and “ friend ; ” while the maiden 
swept me over with a glance so full of gratitude 
that I felt my face burn with blushes, and was 
very glad the darkness hid it from the sight of 
others. The Don also embraced Eli and patted 
him on the back, pouring forth a torrent — so it 
seemed to us — of words that it seemed he would 
never check. We tried to make them under- 
stand that they were welcome to all they found 
in the cave, and also they must not venture out 
until we gave the w T ord. 

The Don shook his head as if to say he 
understood, and his daughter also nodded ; but 

190 


SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 


the serving maid maintained a sullen silence. 
She had not yet made up her mind that we 
were incarcerating them with friendly intent, it 
appeared, and she could n’t forgive Eli for so 
rudely checking her cries when he clapped his 
hand over her mouth. But that did not matter, 
so long as the master and mistress comprehended. 
We relied on them to lie low and keep out of 
sight. They had everything they could need 
for weeks and months in the matter of eatables 
and drinkables ; their only deprivation would be 
of sunshine and outdoor air. The gloom of the 
cave might prove oppressive after a while ; but 
that was not our fault. We had done the best 
we could under the circumstances, as Eli said, 
and if they preferred to take their chances at 
being shot or hanged, that they were still privi- 
leged to do. 

So we left them fairly well content, and went 
back to face the music — in other words, the 
hubbub outside — which, by the time we had 
reached the hut, had swelled almost to a hurri- 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


cane — what the Indians call an “ ouragan.” We 
found John still on guard, but in somewhat of 
trepidation, for not a few of the brethren had 
poked their heads in at the door to ask him if he 
had seen aught of the Spaniards. As he in very 
truth could say that he had not — the darkness 
having prevented — they had all departed none 
the wiser for their visits, he told us. 

“ Did any of ’em have torches or lanthorns ? ” 
asked Eli. 

“ A few,” replied John ; “ but they did n’t 
appear to be examining the sand for footprints, 
if that ’s why you ask.” 

“ That is just why,” rejoined Eli, “ and the 
very fust thing for us to do now is to wipe out 
them telltale footprints. I only hope it ain’t 
too late, that ’s all. There ’s three sets of foot- 
prints, the Don’s, the maiden’s and the serving 
woman’s, and for the life of me I don’t see how 
we ’re going to oblit’rate ’em all before the 
gang gets on the trail.” 

“ Well,” said John (and I thought he spoke 

192 


SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 


up pretty frowardly for one of his retiring dis- 
position), “ suppose you go out and see if they 
show up very much, Mr. Eli. I think I am 
safe in offering you a Portuguese Jo for every 
woman’s footprint you ’ll find in the sand within 
bowshot of our hut.” 

“ What ? What d’ you mean, youngster ? 
There ain’t been any storm of rain or anything 
to wash ’em away. And I know one of them 
females made a pooty deep print, by the way she 
dug her heels into the sand as I tried to drag 
her along. Jewhizzer, but she ’s a Tartar, that 
same gal. But I ’ll go out, just the same, and 
see what I can see.” 

Eli soon came back with the information that, 
so far as he could see by the light of the moon, 
there was n’t a trace of any woman’s shoe-print 
anywhere to be found. “ But they ’s a lot of 
blamed big boot-prints that looks if they might 
have been made by a number ten or ’leven boot, 
and the man that wore ’em drunk at that, near ’s 


r 93 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


I can find out, for he seems to have fell down 
and wallered in the sand every dozen yards or 
so. Whoever he was, he ’s done us a mighty 
big service, lemme tell you, boys ; for, blame me, 
if he hain’t destroyed the telltale track clean 
as a whistle.” 

u Husli, Eli, not so loud,” replied John, at the 
same time chuckling to himself in a way that it 
did me good to hear, he had been so solemn and 
silent ever since he was wounded. 

“ But I was the one who wiped out the tracks, 
and here is what I did it with,” he said, reach- 
ing under the bed and pulling out a pair of old 
boots that had belonged to one of the sailors 
who went to the sharks that gruesome day after 
the fight in the harbor. 

“I just jumped into them, after you had all 
gone underground, and, as you say, / wallered 
about ’ till I was satisfied there would be no 
trace of the trail. I did n’t want to sit here 
idle while you and Humphrey were doing every- 
thing, did I ? ” 


194 


SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 


“ Well, I vum to gracious, Jack ; I did n’t think 
you had so much gumption. I do believe there ’s 
the making of a man in you, after all. Could n’t 
a done it better myself ; no, nor even half so 
well, Jackie, boy. There ain’t a sign now by 
which them Spaniards can be tracked to this 
here hut, and if we don’t know nothing, but just 
set still and look wise when the old man comes 
along to catechize us, why, there won’t be no- 
body the wiser, I figger it out. Leastwise, un- 
less that she cat, the serving woman, gives it all 
away.” 

“ But, Hump, what we going to do with ’em 
now we ’ve got ’em — as was said before ? The 
way we hustled them poor critters into the cave, 
without saying ’s much as ‘ by your leave,’ was a 
caution to snakes. The whole thing reminds 
me of a yarn my father used to tell about an 
exper’ence of his’n down to Louisburg. He and 
another soldier went out hunting, and what ’d 
they come up ag’inst but a big bull moose. My 
father up and let drive as he come a-chargin’ 
I 95 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


straight at him, and hit him square in the centre of 
his forid, atwixt the eyes, but did hit do nothing 
but stun’d him a bit, so ’t he stumbled to his 
knees and was kinder dazed, just long hiougli 
for father to grab him by the antlers. Well, iro 
sooner ’d father got a good grip than the moose 
begun to come to, and the way he did rare and 
tear, father said, was a caution to snakes and 
little grasshoppers. But father held on, know- 
ing that his life depended on ’t, and was thrown 
this way and that and sliaked up and down 
through the undergrowth, till he had n’t scarcely 
a whole stitch of clothes on his back, let alone 
his legs and arms. As for his gun, he had n’t 
no sort of an idee where that was, and did n’t 
care, s’ long ’s he had n’t no chance to load it up 
and fire another bullet into the critter. 

“ Well, things went on this way for quite a 
while, until, just as that air moose had about 
worn father out, his partner up and comes along 
and yells for him to hold on — which was about 
as foolish a piece of advice as he could have given 

196 


SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 


him, seeing ’s he could n’t do nothing else with- 
out running the resk of being gored to death. 
The man tried to slip up close to the moose on 
t’ other side from where father was last, but he 
could n’t seem to fix it nohow ; for father he was 
being slung this side and that, so ’t there wa’n’t 
no locating him at all. But at last he managed 
to hamstring the brute with his hunting-knife, 
and then cut his capers short with a bullet in 
his heart. 

“ Well, what I was coming at was the sim’- 
larity betwixt father’s case and ours: for when I 
used to ask father what he was thinking of mostly 
when he was a-being slung about so tormentedly, 
he used to say that he was a-wisliing most for 
somebody to help him let go that moose ! 

“ See the p’int, hey? Here we ’ye got our 
fine Spaniards safe in our castle, so to speak, 
and so far ’s we know there ain’t any reason why 
we can’t keep ’em there ; but how, and when, in 
the name of all tarnation, are we going to let 
go of ’em, hey ? ” 


197 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ I don’t know, Eli, I ’m sure. But let ’s 
leave that trouble till we have to meet it. God 
showed us a way to get them there without blood- 
shed, and that ’s more than we expected a few 
hours ago, was n’t it ? ” 

“ It was that, Hump, my boy. We done our 
dooty and God helped us. There aint no getting 
away from that, sure ’s we ’re alive. And I do 
believe that if we continue to do our dooty — as 
I ’m sure we shall — He will help us some more. 
Now, what do you say ? ” 

“ You know our sentiments, Eli — Jack’s 
and mine. If it was n’t for some sort of a faith 
like that — but there, you ’ll say I ’m preacli- 
ing.” 

“ Not a bit, old feller. Heave ahead. That 
ain’t preaching — it ’s only clenching an argy- 
ment. Still, it ain’t no use to waste breath 
trying to prove what ’s as plain ’s the nose on 
your face. It was providential, and let it go at 
that.” 

“ Hist, here comes somebody with a light. It ’s 

198 


SPANISH DON AND HIS DAUGHTER 


old Jaques, sure ’s I’m a sinner. Hola, Jaques, 
old boy, what’s up ? ” 

“Ah, mon ami, zat yo, eh ? Yat ees oop, you 
say, eh ? Yell, all is oop, all is ovair ; ze Espag - 
voles, zey haiv aiscape. Sacre tombeau!” 

“ What, the Spaniards have escaped ? When ? 
Where are they ?” 

“Sacre fouf how ees eet I shall know, ze where 
and ze when ? Eet is suffisamment zat zey air 
gone ; vamoose, ze bag and ze baggage. * Non, 
not all, ze — vat you call? — ze sailor men, zey all 
join ze fraternite?' 

“Oh, ah, so the sailors have joined the brother- 
hood, hey ? That is good. You hear that, 
Hump?” [In an aside to me] “That will set 
your mind easy.” 

“ So nobody is to be shot — eh, Jaques ?” 

“ Non — that is, nobody but me; only Jaques 
he is to be shot ! ” 

“ Nonsense, man, you ’re joking. Why should 
you be shot, hey ?” 

“Oh, nozing; only it was I zat guard ze 

jj — For Prey and Spoils. 1 99 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Espagnoles, and — and — zey aiscape, zat is all. 
N’importe — it don’t matter nozing. Je suis con- 
tent . M’sieu Eli, have you ze tabac pour la 
pipe? I vill to smoke.” 

“ Yes, yes, here ’s tobacco — all you want. But 
look here. They won’t shoot you, Jaques ; will 
they now, honest Injun?” 

“Sure. Why not? Ze Capitaine Mansvelt 
he say so; Morgan he say so.” 

“ But why did you leave your post, Jaques ? 
You might have known.” 

“Oui, oui , certainement . I know; but I have 
— what you call ? — ze soif ze great thirst, and I 
go to get ze vin y or ze rum — only one leetle demi 
heure, and when I return zey have depart. Eh 
bien , give me ze light. En peu de feu, si 1 1 vous 
plait, M’sieu Eli.” 

“ This is awful,” I said to Eli, in a whisper. 
What can we do ? ” 

“ Do ? Why I shall see Mansvelt at once. 
I vum, but I ’m glad it wa’n’t my wine did the 
business. Poor old Jaques ! He sha’n’t be shot, 
though, not if I have to stand in his place.” 


200 


CHAPTER XIV 


NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 

E li was about to start right off on his 
mission when Jaques stopped him. 
“ Pardon, M’sieu Eli; but you haf not 
mek me acquaint wiz yo’ friends. Befo’ yo’ go, 
eef yo’ inseest on seeing ze Capitaine about me — 
why, it would be a plaisir to liaf ze convair- 
sazione wiz zese zhentilmens.” 

So Eli introduced old Jaques — who until this 
time had been outside the hut at the doorpost — 
and then left him with us while he went over to 
lay the case before Mansvelt. We all hoped it 
would not be necessary to see Morgan, for he 
hated old Jaques, for some reason, while Mans- 
velt had a liking for him. But we knew lie 
would not allow his liking to turn him from per- 


201 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


forming what he considered necessary for the 
preservation of discipline, and so it seemed like 
a rather forlorn hope that Eli started on. 

After Eli’s departure old Jaques tried to start 
a conversation with us, still preserving an air of 
indifference as to his fate; but it languished 
from lack of response on our part. On almost 
any other occasion we would have been eager to 
learn more of so famous a member of the 
fraternity — one who had been here on the island 
so many years, who had accompanied Lolonois 
on his murderous voyages, and could tell us the 
history of the buccaneers from earliest times ; 
but had suddenly lost interest in his life through 
apprehension as to his probable fate — his death, 
perhaps, being near at hand. 

Finding his attempts at conversation hopeless, 
old Jaques gave them up, with a shrug of his 
shoulders, and muttered “ eh bien” and devoted 
his attention to his pipe, which was filled with 
the fragrant herb known to the Indians as 
tobacco, and which is said to have been first 


202 


NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


introduced into my native country, England, by 
Sir Walter Raleigh ; though as to this I have 
well grounded doubts. At all events, the fra- 
grant weed against which good King James of 
sacred memory issued his famous “ counterblast,” 
and notwithstanding which was so useful in the 
famous great plague of 1665, at London, as an 
herb of exceeding great virtue ; this weed, I say, 
was in great request among the buccaneers. 
The Indians of Haiti had taught them how to 
cure it and also how to smoke it. Not only did 
they make the dry leaves into rolls, which are 
lighted and smoked by being thrust into the 
mouth, but they used what they called a u cachi- 
bamba, ,, or Y-shaped pipe, the branches of 
which they insert into the nostrils wherewithal 
to inhale the smoke and aroma of the tobacco. 

But I did not intend a dissertation on this 
fragrant though pernicious weed, the which had 
not then come into extensive use, even among 
the residents of its native home, the West Indies. 
I myself never could endure its smoke ; though 
203 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


this is not to argue that others might not derive 
refreshment and even consolation from it, as 
they professed to do. 

Now, it seemed that Eli could not have been 
absent much longer than it hath taken to tell of 
it than he came stumping back all a feather- 
white with eagerness to impart the news he 
brought. From this we augured, ere he 
divulged its import, that it was of necessity good 
news, else he would not have been in such haste 
to return. 

“ Yes,” he said, in answer to our questions, 
“ it is both good news, and bad. That old rascal, 
Jaques, will save the number of his mess till 
another time, and will be given another oppor- 
tunity to prove his devotion to the fraternity. 
His life is spared, but he must promise not to do 
it again — that is, not let any prisoners go who 
are of value to the brotherhood.” 

At this announcement old Jaques displayed 
the only sign of interest at all. “Sacre 
tombeau ,” he exclaimed, “ as eef I would not do 


204 


NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


ze same sing (tiling) again eef I haf ze soif. 
Pooh! I accep’ no condition. I would razer 
[rather] quench ze soif and suffair ze penaltie 
zan not quench ze soif and suffair nozing 
[nothing].” 

“You old scoundrel,” burst out Eli. “ I 
reely believe you ’d ruther quench that con- 
founded thirst of yours — and which has got you 
into trouble all your life — than be guaranteed 
existence for a thousand years. Here I have 
been up and interceded with the capt’in for you, 
and prob’ly saved your worthless old life, and 
you a whining about your infernal thirst ! ” 

“ Veil, M’sieu Eli, vat you vill, eh? Ze 
soif eet is mine, and ze life eet ees mine, aussi, 
and eef I sink [think] ze more of ze one zan 
ze ozer, why, whose beesnis ees eet, eh, M’sieu 
Eli?” 

As for leeving one tousand year — tombeau de 
diable — I not want eet — not eef it must to be in 
Tortuga.” 

“ No, and I don’t blame you, neither, though 
205 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


the island’s good enough, as to that matter. It ’s 
the human hyenas, like you and Morgan — rene- 
gade Welshmen and frog-eaters — that make this 
nat’ral paradise a very hell. Now shut up ! 
Don’t say a word. You won’t even thank me 
for putting in my oar to save your miserable car- 
ease from being plugged by bullets, and I won’t 
take any of your slack ; don’t care if you be 
older ’n I am ! ” 

“Ah, M’sieu Eli, you have — what yo’ call? — 
ze unruly tong’. Because I do not sank [thank] 
you, eet ees because my life not value so mooch. 
But eef I haf occazione to serve yo’, zen yo’ 
shall see.” 

“ Well, well, we shall see, as you say. Now 
let me tell you something — all of you. There ’s 
a big move on foot, and to-morrow or next day 
we set out on another expedition. Yes, and 
I ’ve orders to take you with me, Hump, as well 
as old Jaques. That is to warn you not to hang 
back, for go you must and go you shall, so Mans- 
velt says.” 


206 



For Prey and Spoils — 4, 

“‘HERE, DOG’S SON,’ HE SNARLED.” 


See p . 208 








' t 













































NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“And I?” asked John. “You won’t go and 
leave me, will you ? ” 

“That depends,” answered Eli, aloud. But 
going over to where John sat he whispered : 
“ Of course, you can’t go, Jack. You have the 
Spaniards to look after. You ’re their jailor, 
you know.” 

“But why am I obliged to go?” I finally 
asked. “ Can’t I remain if I choose ? There ’ll 
be killing, of course, and bloodshed, and plun- 
dering.” 

“ Oh, yes, all that,” replied Eli, as I thought, 
very callously. “But you ’ve got to go, just 
the same, for Mansvelt says so, and there ’s the 
end of it. So prepare for the morrow, Hump ; 
get your house in order, and, what ’s more, make 
up your mind to take the oath.” 

On the morrow I found it even as Eli had 
said — all was hurry and bustle for departure. 
The ships were always ready, it being the first 
duty of their captains to put them in order as 
soon as they arrived in port and had discharged 

207 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


tlieir cargoes; so there was nothing to do but 
get out our personal effects and — as Eli had 
truly said — take the oath to serve well and 
faithfully the fiends in human shape that we 
called our leaders. 

The twain, Morgan and Mansvelt, had set 
themselves in their huts’ mouth, and as we made 
ready to depart we were compelled to deploy 
before them, each buccaneer repeating after each 
one in front of him the prescribed form of oath. 
For sake of peace, I made my lips move as 
though repeating the formula ; but the eye of 
Morgan detected — or his evil nature suggested 
— that I was not saying over the words : “ These 
our masters I will well and truly serve and obey 
them in all things they may command; and I 
know no other lord and master, nor will I ever 
serve another.” 

“ Here, dog’s son,” he snarled as I passed, 
marching with my musket on shoulder, cutlass 
at side, pistols in belt, and very brave in a 
slashed doublet and tan seaboots with falling 
208 


NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


tops. Eli was my mate, and heard also the in- 
sult, in the nature of a command. And he 
whispered : “ Don’t mind the varmint. He 
means you ; but you’ve no call to know it.” 

But Morgan was not to be put off, for he was 
in a surly mood. “Here, dog’s son, Gilbert, 
come hither. An’ keep on at your peril. 
What’s that you’re muttering ? Not the sacred 
oath, I’ll be shot ! Stand by here and repeat it 
after me.” 

“ Who is that you ’ve rounded to ? ” asked 
Mansvelt, who just then came to the door, 
buckling on a belt. He had on his head a broad 
sombrero with a feather drooping from its brim, 
a buff jerkin, crimson hosen, and boots with 
pointed toes. Withal, he was a goodly figure to 
look at then, and I unconsciously looked my 
admiration as I saluted him, then stood rigid 
near the doorpost, with Eli at one side. “ What 
have you stopped the lad for?” asked Mansvelt 
of Morgan, who was glaring at me with a vicious 
expression in his eyes. 


209 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ My business, my lord/’ answered Morgan, 
sneeringly, “ and not yours. ,, 

“ Nothing on this island but is my business,” 
rejoined Mansvelt, angrily, “and I thank you 
to keep your monkey fingers out of my pie. 
Go on, men, and lose no time in getting to the 
ship.” 

“ Yes, go on,” mocked Morgan, “ but remem- 
ber we have a reckoning after.” 

“ If you touch the boy you have me to reckon 
with,” quickly rejoined Mansvelt. 

“So be it, then,” said Morgan. “But I’ll 
do it!”' 

And this was the beginning of the quarrel 
which, as some time past I remarked, I was in- 
strumental (though unwittingly) in provoking. 
It came to head on the voyage, and cost a 
life. 

Having arrived at the ship in which we were 
to sail, we were all drawn up on deck to hear 
read the articles of agreement by which all were 
mutually bound. In the first place, we were 


210 


NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


supposed to own all property in common, not 
only on the island, but on and including the 
ships. This was a pleasing fiction encouraged 
by the leaders in order to give us an interest in 
the work. However, all buccaneers up to the 
time of Morgan had kept faith with their men; 
but he, later on, not alone deprived them of their 
just dues — if such an expression may be used of 
plunder taken by force and perchance by the 
shedding of blood — but also caused many to lose 
their lives. This, however, was in after times, 
and does not pertain to the period now under 
consideration. 

To carry out, then, the semblance of fair play, 
we were assembled on deck and agreed to the 
following articles: First, we fixed upon a price 
the captain of the ship was to receive ; then came 
the ship's carpenter, who, being a most indis- 
pensable man, was. adjudged to receive — when 
we had obtained it from some one else — the sum 
of one hundred and fifty pieces of eight for the 
voyage. The ship's chirurgeon was another 


2 1 1 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


man likely to be of great service in case of an 
engagement with an enemy, and lie was granted, 
for liimself and his medicines, two hundred and 
fifty pieces of eight. 

The captain of each ship, by the way, was to 
receive six times the amount of the plunder that 
a common sailor should be entitled to ; the mas- 
ter’s mate two portions ; and so on down from 
the highest unto the lowest, not forgetting the 
boys who served as powder-monkeys and attended 
to the cabins. 

Then ensued a gruesome ceremony, to wit, the 
allotting to each man the compensation he was 
to receive for a prospective wound or for being 
maimed or suffering loss of limbs. For example, 
it was agreed that the loss of a right arm should 
be compensated for by six slaves or six hun- 
dred pieces of eight ; a left arm was to entitle 
one to five slaves or five hundred pieces of 
eight; and the same for the loss of the right 
leg ; though for the left leg one was to receive 
only four slaves or four hundred pieces of eight. 


212 


NOW FORTH FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


I myself could not see why there should be 
discrimination in the matter, neither could Eli, 
who said : “ Seems to me I should feel the loss 
of my left leg just ’s much as my right one; 
though as to any difference betwixt the right 
arm and the left, why — of course there is. 
Howsomever, I guess there ain’t much chance 
of losing either this trip, Hump, so don’t worry. 
But you may be sure that, if you do meet with 
any of the losses specified, the money will be 
paid. The fust thing the brethren do after 
getting back to port is to reckon up the damages 
for wounded ones and ‘ deaders,’ and then pay 
up.” 

For the loss of an eye — as though one could 
be in any manner on earth compensated for that — 
one slave only was to be awarded and one hun- 
dred pieces of eight, and for any one finger of 
the hand the same, so that were one to lose a 
hand he would get five hundred pieces of eight 
therefor — that is, for the right hand, and for the 
loss of a foot, or the toes of a foot, the same. 


213 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Haying in this barbarous manner been warned 
of what they might expect as their portion, in 
case of being maimed or wounded, and having, 
with much boisterousness, settled the matter to 
their satisfaction, the brethren hoisted sails, set 
the black flag at the peak, and thus fared forth 
for further prey and spoils. 

214 


CHAPTER XV 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 

I T is with scant ceremony, I fear me, that I 
have dismissed my mate, John, and his 
precious charge, the dwellers in the cave, 
from this narrative. It was not my intention, 
truly, to ignore them ; but in the hurry of de- 
parture and the exceeding crowding together of 
events I have e’en o’erlooked them. Let me 
now make some amends ere I betake me hence 
from Tortuga and embark upon the career of 
crime into which I was forced. 

But spare me the recital of our parting words, 
especially the harrowing details of our farewells. 
Suffice it that John and I had grown to love 
each other truly and well, and to be separated 
was like driving a knife into the flesh. I mis- 

14 — For Frey and Spoils. 


21S 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


doubted that we should ever be rejoined; but 
yet I tried to keep a brave heart and a smiling 
face for his sake. Poor boy, he had no mother, 
sister or brother to cheer him; I was all in all 
to him, as he full oft told me. 

But well it was that he had a responsibility 
thrust upon him, in shape of the Spaniards in 
the cave, else he must have brooded sore o’er 
his sorrows. It was more to divert his mind 
from our departure than aught else that I strove 
to impress upon him the serious nature of his 
charge : that he was to visit the Spaniards at 
least once a day, to glean for their divertise- 
ment all the gossip of the camp, and to take them 
such fruits and refreshments as it were possible 
for him to obtain. 

Snatching an hour before our departure, also, 
Eli and I accompanied John in a visit to the 
cave, in order to take farewell of our captives 
and tell them to be of good cheer. We found 
them very much depressed, especially the serving 
maid, who was for the scratching out of Eli 
216 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 


Herrick’s eyes, apparently, she looking upon him 
as the cause of all her woes. But the Don was 
more gracious and received us with the custom- 
ary embrace and salute. 

His daughter, also, was graciousness itself, 
and flashed upon us such glances from her dark 
orbs that I felt ashamed. Not so Eli, I am con- 
strained to relate ; for her glances were to me 
like the sunshine on an apple’s cheek, bringing 
out the color ; they merely reflected themselves in 
the eyes of bold Eli Herrick, who seemed, in 
sooth, to delight in their radiance. She gave 
to each of us a slender hand and chatted gaily 
the while, darting at both Eli and me those 
penetrating glances, which e’en pierced me 
through and through, me seemed. For I had 
rarely before met a fair lady of near my own age 
— methinks she was about seventeen — so close 
as to engage her in conversation. Our speech, 
of course, was but halting, since of each other’s 
language we knew small measure; but the de- 
moiselle spake as much with her eyes as with 
217 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


lier ruby lips, methinks, and it was not difficult 
to understand her. 

Ah, but I did admire the gallant Eli, so bold 
and yet so deferential was he withal. No longer 
was he the scantily educated buccaneer, lame of 
speech and uncouth of manner. Verily, he 
seemed to swell with the occasion, and had he 
but a broidered jerkin, a jewel-hilted sword and 
a plumed cap withal, I misdoubt me he had not 
been taken for a prince, despite his wooden leg 
and many scars. The obscurity of the cavern 
hid his numerous defects, and by the same token 
it may have enhanced the beauty of the maiden; 
but, at all events, we were seemingly well 
pleased with each other, and the hour passed 
all too quickly, I ween. 

I showed the maiden and her father how the 
rift in the rock that overlooked the sea com- 
manded a view of our fleet, which was then 
riding at anchor in the harbor, with sails loosened 
ready to depart. They both sighed at sight 
of the sea, and the Don sniffed eagerly at 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 


the whiff of sea air that came through the 
window. 

“ Oh, that it were possible for me to go with 
you ! ” he said, and cursed his fate that he 
should be immured there like a rat in a hole 
while things were going on outside. Learning 
from Eli that our probable destination was the 
Spanish main, and, at a venture, the city of 
Porto Bello, he gnashed his teeth and tore his 
hair in very impotence and rage, explaining 
that he had property there, and not alone prop- 
erty, but another daughter, who was at school 
at the convent in Porto Bello. And, explain- 
ing all this to his daughter, she fell to weeping, 
so that it were a task quite beyond Eli and me 
to pacify her, withal. But, as the violence of 
their grief began to abate, they recognizing 
probably the futility of tears and groans, like 
the very sensible people that they were, I ven- 
tured to remark that peradventure our destina- 
tion should be Porto Bello, we both would do 
all we could — yea, risk our very lives, to do them 
219 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


a service. At this the Don took heart, and 
the maiden darted at me — rather I should say 
through me — such a piercing glance of gratitude 
that I felt my heart swell near to bursting, and 
that moment would have been glad to have 
rushed upon an army of invaders for her sake. 

“ But how shall we know your daughter, 
senor, perad venture we should find her where 
we go?” I asked. 

“Amigo (friend),” he answered; “ she is the 
veritable image of this daughter here, her only 
sister, and though two years her junior she is full 
as large and as mature as she. Her name is 
Anita, and our patronymic is Del Mar, for we 
are of a noble family of Spain’s sea-fighters, 
which of yore w T on many a battle for the king. 
Thereby, in truth, I came possessed of property 
in Porto Bello, which was gained at the sword ’s 
point by an ancestor of mine.” 

When he had ceased speaking his daughter 
approached, and, taking a ring of gold set with 
gems from one of her fingers, pressed it upon me, 


220 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 

saying : “ Take this, noble youth, so that per- 
chance you meet my dear sister she shall know 
you have seen me. If you do not meet her, then 
keep it as a token of our confidence in you.” 

Now, I was not given to soft speech with 
maidens, never having, as I have said, met 
them in close converse ; but I took the ring most 
reverently, and, pressing it to my lips, I vowed 
to her that I would hold it as a trust until I 
should have found her sister and given it to her. 
And, I added, that if she were in peril I and my 
comrade would fight for her so long as we had 
breath within our bodies. 

“And that we will, senorita,” added Eli, “ fight 
for her, and glad to do it, too. And if we do 
find her, rest assured that she will come along 
with us, if we have to move heaven and earth 
to bring it about.” 

And it were no vaporing on Eli's part, neither 
on mine, as the sequel will show thee, reader, if 
thou wilt keep company with us further. Of a 
verity, we both felt ready to go through fire and 


221 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


water for this maiden and her father ; but I mis- 
doubt me if we should have been so inspired had 
the Don been alone and told his tale. 

However, let us not question our motive. 
Feeling that it would not be safe to wear the 
ring on my finger, I drew forth my mother’s 
miniature, from its hiding-place beneath my 
doublet, with the view of attaching it to the 
golden chain by which the locket was suspended. 
At sight of the miniature the maiden’s curiosity 
was excited, and forsooth I gave her a glance at 
the fair face of my mother, for proud was I and 
gratified to have one of her sex see and admire 
her. 

The maiden gave one glance, and then ex- 
claimed in admiration : “Ah, que hermosa ! 
(how beautiful). Es su madre? (is it your 
mother ? ”) 

I nodded, but I could not speak, for the feel- 
ings that welled up in me, and the maiden took 
it in both hands, as though it were a sacred relic, 
and pressed it to her cheek, then to her lips. 


222 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 


“ Madre , o mi madre ! (mother, oli, my 
mother),” she wailed, then fell to weeping; 
while the Don, who had also seen the portrait, 
turned his hack, and for a space it seemed that 
he, too, was shedding tears. 

But he soon controlled himself and said : 
“ Pardon my child, for she is motherless ; the 
sweet face of that lady, your mother, reminded 
her of our loved one, for there is great resem- 
blance.” 

I was then reminded me of one I had for the 
moment forgotten, to wit, John, my chum, who 
had remained silently standing by all through 
our conversation. Now, it was time that he 
should be made acquainted with the Spaniards, 
and I was glad to create a diversion by saying 
that he was to have special charge of them while 
we were away, and that his commands must be 
implicitly obeyed. Both the Don and the 
maiden smiled upon him, the latter through her 
tears, and both promised, while at the same time 

223 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


they embraced him, that they would accept him 
as their jailor. 

Now, it must not be supposed that all I have 
narrated transpired as glibly as I tell it, for of 
necessity our speech was halting, lacking words 
for mutual understanding. But the Spaniards 
well understood that their safety lay in secrecy, 
and that we should watch for an opportunity for 
their release, and avail ourselves of it as soon as 
it should be safe to make the attempt. But in 
any case nothing could transpire until our return, 
as to which we knew nothing, neither the date 
nor the manner of it. 

“ God be with you,” said the Don, as he finally 
embraced us, and the maiden murmured : ‘‘May 
God save you, gentlemen, and bring you safely 
back again ; ” but the serving woman only glow- 
ered at us from a remote corner of the cavern to 
which she had retired in a rage. 

“ By gum,” was Eli’s first exclamation after 
we had emerged from the pit and reassembled 
in the hut : “ I b’lieve that ’s the pootiest gal 

224 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 


I ever set eyes on ; blamed if she ain’t a 
picter ! ” 

“ Do you mean the serving woman ? 99 asked 
John, demurely, being prone to poke fun, I ween, 
knowing full well of whom Eli spake. 

“ No, you scapegrace, I mean the sehorita, 
Miss Maria Del Mar, the English of which is 
Mary of the Sea, and a mighty fine name it is, 
too. Blame me if I would n’t go through fire 
and brimstone for her, old as I am, and so would 
Hump, too, or I misween me much ; eh, friend 
Humphrey ? ” 

“ That I would,” I replied ; “ or, for that mat- 
ter, for any lady whatever who w r as thrown on 
my protection as she is on ours. It is our duty, 
Eli, as you know, as well as our pleasure, to de- 
fend her ; and, as for her sister, we must find 
her, or never return without having used our 
every effort to do so.” 

And thus it was we went aboard the galleon 
with a determination that inspired us to endure 
much, to brave everything, for the sake of those 
225 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


placed in dependence upon us. I misdoubt me 
if any fair lady of olden time ever had more 
loyal liege knights errant than had Senorita Del 
Mar in Eli Herrick and myself. I may say this 
now, since subsequent events proved our mettle ; 
and again, said events are a long time in the 
past, as I now write. 

But no longer will I delay describing the 
voyage we took, and which resulted in such con- 
sequences, disastrous to some, hopeful to others, 
but which served only to weld more firmly the 
chains that bound me to the pirates’ cause. We 
sailed forth from the harbor, such a fleet that 
its like had never been gathered before in these 
waters. There were fifteen sail, big and little, 
from the huge three-decker carracks and galleons 
captured at odd times from the Spaniards to 
small sloops and brigs, West Indian built and 
rigged, picked up here and there among the 
islands. The nominal captain, or rather admiral, 
of this pirate fleet was Mansvelt, and Henry 
Morgan was his vice-admiral. Before the voy- 
226 


THE CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO 


age ended this man Morgan was admiral, both in 
name and in fact, and Mansvelt was no more; 
but that will be told shortly, as it came about. 

Fifteen vessels and five hundred men made a 
force that might well cause the hearts of our 
enemies to quake, and doubtless they would have 
had they known we were at sea on pillage bent. 
It was at first Mansvelt’s intention to sail forth 
for the windward channel between Cuba and 
Haiti, there to strive to intercept the king of 
Spains treasure-fleet, which at this season was 
in convoy from the Isthmus of Panama to the 
home country with silver from the Peruvian 
mines. But he was doubtful if it were yet due, 
and meanwhile resolved to sail southward for 
the Gulf of Darien, there to attack, and if possible 
capture, the Spanish city of Porto Bello, or Puerto 
Bello, which, of ancient foundation and long en- 
gaged in traffick with the salvages of the gold 
country adjacent to Darien, was one of the 
wealthiest cities of the Spanish main. But it was 
strongly fortified, enclosed within high stone walls 
227 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


and witli a castle on its harbor that had never yet 
been taken by assault or reduced by cannonad- 
ing. But, inasmuch as there had never set sail 
such another expedition for attack as this of 
ours, Mansvelt boasted vaingloriously that he 
would set the example and be the first pirate to 
reduce a walled city belonging to the king of 
Spain. Hence, once in the open sea, we steered 
southwardly for that doomed city, Porto Bello, 
and in due course arrived within sight of its 
frowning ramparts. 

228 


CHAPTER XVI 

STORMING THE CASTLE AND CONVENT 

T HE first intimation the Spaniards of Porto 
Bello had of our coming was the scurry- 
ing back to harbor of divers fishing craft 
which were engaged off shore, and which, de- 
spite the endeavors of our admiral to intercept 
them, warned the governor of the city, so that 
he closed the city gates and shut himself up in 
his castle before we arrived under the walls. 
All endeavors to negotiate with him were fruit- 
less, for well he knew the desperate men lie had 
then to contend with, and opened a cannon fire 
upon us at once we were within range. But 
the Spaniards are and always were notoriously 
poor marksmen, and our admiral had for them 
such contempt that he paid no attention to their 


229 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


fire, but ordered out the small boats at once, 
and all the available men at arms rowed to the 
shore. 

By a strange chance, one of the Spanish can- 
non balls did strike a galleon of the fleet ’twixt 
wind and water, and, stranger still, caused it to 
sink; but that mishap by no means dismayed 
us, nor greatly delayed the landing of our men. 
We had a few less, that was all, to assist at the 
reduction of the castle, and, as doubtless there 
would be still fewer after the battle was over, 
we should not need so many vessels to carry us 
back to Tortuga, withal. 

By rowing up a narrow channel and around 
an angle of the sea-walls, we found a landing- 
place without the range of Spanish cannon, and 
there we formed in columns and marched for- 
ward to the assault. We had brought scaling 
ladders with us, which were carried in the van 
and quickly planted against the walls. They 
reached scarcely to the parapets, and even those 
that did were quickly thrown back upon our 
230 


STORMING CASTLE AND CONVENT 


heads, together with pots of boiling pitch and 
caldrons of hot water, which the governor of the 
castle had prepared as soon as warned of our ap- 
proach. Then ensued a pandemonium of oaths 
and cries from the wounded and the scalded 
pirates, a fusilade from muskets and arquebuses, 
and the throwing of hand-grenades ; but all to 
no purpose. 

By this our ships had brought their cannon 
into fire, and it was not long before a breach was 
made in the wall that surrounded the city, though 
the castle seemed impregnable. Quick to avail 
himself of this advantage, our leader ordered 
the breach to be stormed at once, and soon it was 
swarming with a motley throng of pirates, in the 
foremost front being Eli and myself. I had re- 
solved, inasmuch as I should be regarded with 
suspicion peradventure I hung back and refused 
to fight, to throw myself into the very van of all, 
and by loud cries and flourishing of my cutlass 
to create the impression that I was fighting des- 
perately. This was by Eli’s advice, who saw 

IS— For Frey and Spoils. 211 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


how sore my conscience was regarding tlie 
company I was in. 

So then, see us both storming the breach at 
the head of half a thousand men, more or less, 
shouting fit to split our lungs and piercing the 
air with sundry and divers stabs until such as 
saw us could not but admire us for our valor — 
as we had intended. What I should do if per- 
chance I met a Spaniard I dreaded much to 
think; for it would have gone against the grain 
to have lopped his head off merely because he 
was engaged in defending his home. But for- 
tunately for me no Spaniard gave me a chance 
to engage him at close quarters, for all who saw 
us ran as if, forsooth, the evil one himself were 
at his heels. 

And who could blame them for acting the 
coward, with a host of fiends in view, come with- 
out warning to ravage their homes and deprive 
them of their lives? 

I have never run from mortal man as yet, 
but, methinks, I would have at least waited till 

232 


STORMING CASTLE AND CONVENT 


I got my back against a wall before making 
stand against such a horde of ruffians as ours. 

We gained the city streets, but only to find 
them silent and deserted of all human beings. 
The massive stone houses on either side the 
chief streets were closed and apparently aban- 
doned, for all the people who could do so had fled 
to the castle, where the governor had shut him- 
self up and in fancied security bade us defiance, 
in sooth. The enraged pirates sacked the houses, 
recovering much treasures in silver and gold, and 
even spared not the church, robbing the altar 
of its massive golden ornaments, and then turned 
themselves to yet more reprehensible deeds. 

At the seaward end of the city was the castle ; 
at the landward end the great buildings of a 
convent, towards which, after our bands of cut- 
throats had slaked their thirst in Spanish wines, 
the which also inflamed their sinful lusts, they 
turned with loud shouts and brandishing of 
arms. Mansvelt — to his credit let it be recorded 
— refused to lead his men against the convent, 
2 33 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


filled, as lie knew it to be, with women and chil- 
dren ; but Morgan overruled him in this, and 
himself stepped forward and harangued the men 
to do this divelish deed. 

I heard with horror the order to march 
forward and carry the walls of the convent, and 
I would have held back had not the eye of 
Morgan been upon me. And again Eli whis- 
pered to me : “ Remember what the Don said : 
His daughter is here, perchance, and if we are 
foremost, who knows but that we can save her ! ” 

Thus on we went, pellmell, cutlasses in air 
and again in the van of that howling, scoun- 
drelly horde. We made short work of the con- 
vent barricades, and eftsoon were pouring 
through the corridors and into the patios, or 
inner courts, of the immense structure, like 
wolves in a sheep cote seeking for lambs. And 
we found them, too, all huddled together in the 
chapel, more than fifty women and girls listening 
to the prayers that were being offered by their 
instructors in religion. They had evidently 
234 


STORMING CASTLE AND CONVENT 


been told to prepare for the worst, and in the 
main were calm with the desperation born of 
despair ; yet some few could not but shriek at 
the appearance of the ruffianly horde, shaggy 
and unkempt, some brandishing blood-stained 
weapons, others their faces smeared with blood 
and all leering like hyenas at their prospective 
prey. 

The voice of prayer was drowned in the 
shouts and cursings of the pirates, who for a 
moment held aloof, some even of these depraved 
monsters feeling compunction at advancing upon 
this assemblage of defenceless females. At this 
juncture a nun with saintly face stepped for- 
ward, holding in her hands a casket containing 
gold and silver trinkets, jewels, pearls, gems — 
the despoiling of those maidens there assembled, 
which she offered our leader, telling him they 
represented their entire possessions and entreating 
him to take them and depart. 

But no, Morgan the monster had other plans 
in view. He indeed took the offering, passing 

235 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


it to liis lieutenant ; but lie then said, in liis 
loud and uncouth voice : “ Form yourselves 

into ranks and pass out into the street. Men, 
fall back and allow these ladies to pass. Go, now, 
and stand not here another moment. Go 
hence ! ” 

The trembling females did as he directed, and 
marched quietly out through the corridors, 
twelve stately women leading more than forty 
maidens quivering with fright and weeping 
silently. We parted ranks, and they passed out 
into the street, where they were ordered to march 
without halting directly for the drawbridge at 
the castle gate. Then we saw the full and 
horrible purport, of Morgan’s intention : It 
was to compel the female captives to lead the way 
with scaling ladders, which they were ordered 
to place against the walls ! 

Behind this barricade of virtue and innocence 
the pirates were to advance and assault the 
castle, unless indeed the governor should shrink 
from killing his own friends some of them per- 

236 


STORMING CASTLE AND CONVENT 


chance liis own relatives, and consent to parley. 
Never, perhaps, was any other man offered such 
a terrible alternative, and it must have torn the 
governors heartstrings sorely to decide : whether 
to fire upon those innocents, mingled as they 
were with the thronging pirates, or consent to 
surrender the castle and all it contained to the 
treacherous villains in whose word he could by 
no means place dependence. That alternative 
was offered him, and not hours, but minutes, 
given him to decide. The nun with saintly 
face called in clear bell-like voice to the governor 
not to betray his trust, for if her life and the 
lives of her companions could save him and all 
the castle contained, she and they were ready 
for the sacrifice. At which, with a curse on his 
lips, that divel Morgan leaped upon and ran 
her through with his sword. She fell bleeding 
amid the throng of white-faced, shrieking girls 
and scowling men, and would have been trampled 
on had not Eli and myself, as with one impulse, 
leaped forward and taken her in our arms. 

237 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Drop lier ! Drop that drab, and go back to 
the ranks ! ” shouted Morgan, fairly foaming at 
the mouth. “Men, sieze those scoundrels and off 
with their heads ! ” 

I whispered to Eli, “ Bear her back gently, 
while I hold them back. Perchance I fall, it 
cannot be worse.” He nodded, and I released 
my hold of the woman, and, without giving my 
enemies time to oppose themselves against me, 
sprang like a tiger full at Morgan’s throat. The 
impact of my spring bore him to the earth, and 
betime his myrmidons had reached me he was 
black in the face from the grip I gave him on 
the throat, for my fingers clenched themselves 
like steel upon his sinewy neck, and but another 
moment would have been his last ! I knew my 
time was short, and strove not only to choke him 
but to break his neck if possible ; and I think I 
should have succeeded had we not been torn 
apart so rudely. But for all the rescue he was 
unconscious, and for most of that day was 
238 


For Prey and Spoils — 5. 

“‘THE MAN OF BLOOD SHALL DIE.’ ” 



ZSrnSirnmm 


See /. 242 














































































































' 




































X 





STORMING CASTLE AND CONVENT 


surely out of the fight, despite the attempts of 
our chirurgeon to bring him round again. 

His men fell upon me, many at a time, and it 
would have gone ill with me had it not been for 
Mansvelt, who commanded them not only to 
unloose me but to return my cutlass, which had 
dropped to the ground in the affray. 

“ Go, now he said, and he pressed my hand 
in a way that had in it approval for my act. 
“ Go, now, and assist thy chum in recovering the 
wounded nun. They have taken the direction 
of the convent. ,, 

I hesitated, for my blood was boiling, and I 
greatly desired to complete the work I had so 
well begun. But Mansvelt laughed, as if fully 
comprehending my desire, and said : “Not now; 
thou hast done enough for a beginning. Doubt- 
less he will let thee have it out with him another 
day!" 

My reason returning in a measure then, I did 
as he had commanded, and, wending my way be- 
tween the disordered ranks, sought the convent, 


239 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


where in sooth I found, not only Eli and the 
captive nun, but another with them who, despite 
my disordered fancy, at the time, suggested to me 
some familiar face. In short, the girl attendant 
upon the nun, I felt sure at first glance, was none 
other than the younger daughter of the Don ! 
She had the same black eyes and hair, round 
cheeks, ruby-red lips, with such delicious curves 
in them, as had her sister, and withal a shapely, 
lithesome figure. She was rather above the 
common height of girls of her age — which the 
Don had intimated was about fifteen — and had 
about her an air of maturity not derived from 
years. 

All these details I noticed, as it were, un- 
wittingly, and almost at a glance ; for there was ? 
sooth, no time for idle curiosity. I doubt if the 
girl then gave me a single thought, except to 
reason that here was but another pirate, one the 
more or less being all the same to her, since all 
were in league against her life. She merely 
glanced at me, then, being absorbed up in her 
240 


STORMING CASTLE AND CONVENT 


charge, the saintly nun, who was reclining on a 
cot supported by the young girl with an arm 
under her head. 

That the nun was wounded unto death I knew 
at first view of her, the pallor on her pure face was 
such ; but I said nothing. The blood still flowed 
from the wound in her side, staining her white 
robe and the cot upon which she lay ; her 
breath came in quick, short gasps, except for 
which there was no sign of life. Standing near 
the foot of the cot, in the little room scarcely 
more than a cell, with its bare, white walls, was my 
comrade, and with him old J aques, but for whose 
assistance surely the nun could not have been 
borne out from that noisome throng to this quiet 
sanctuary. The veteran pressed my hand as I 
entered, and Eli linked an arm in mine, and we 
stood silent there, with bared heads, knowing in 
our souls that we were in the presence of death. 

Whether it were better to go or stay we knew 
not, but, feeling our unfitness for such a place, 
were about to steal softly out when the dying 


241 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


woman opened her eyes, raised herself to a 
sitting posture, and, pointing with the extended 
finger of one hand at poor Jaques, said in a 
clear, distinct voice : “ The man of blood shall 
die ! 99 Then she gasped once or twice, fell 
back and died. 

242 


CHAPTER XVII 

HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED OVER OUR HEADS 

T HE maiden cried out, once only, in a hor- 
rified voice, then she gazed at the nun’s 
face as if stupefied. We crept in, we 
three, and stood stupidly at the cot’s foot, neither 
knowing what to do nor for what purpose we 
were there, save that our hearts were full of sym- 
pathy for the girl, whom we were at loss how to 
pacify. 

She knelt at the side of the departed one, and 
hid her face in her hands. We knew then that 
she had recovered from her first shock and 
might soon be amenable to reason. For, sooth, 
sacred as was such a scene and imperative as was 
her duty to the departed, we knew that it was 
now the living, not the dead, who demanded our 

24 3 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


endeavors. The strife of battle was now so great 
that it penetrated into this inner chamber, and 
as it grew louder and louder Jaques became ex- 
ceedingly uneasy. “ I must go,” he whispered, “ to 
see how the battle cometh on.” And, troth, he was 
only too glad to get away from this chamber of 
death, for he could not endure the sight of that 
still, calm face, which, though it was transfigured 
to look like an angel’s, yet wore an expression 
of reproach. 

God’s creature, so fair, so pure, and yet to fall 
victim of so foul a deed ! What wonder that 
the dead woman’s face reflected somewhat of the 
reproach in her last words ! I heard old Jaques 
mutter, as he passed out and down the corridor : 
“ The man of blood shall die ! The man of 
blood shall die ! ” So it seemed that the words 
went home — at least to one of us. 

Eli drew me outside the door and whispered : 
“ Hump, do you know our situation ’s kinder 
critical ? It is, faith. It won’t do to be caught 
here like rats in a hole, for the pirates are raging 
244 


HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED 


outside like fiends. We must either go out and 
join ’em or barricade this building and hold it 
till we can have word with the Admiral, for they 
are all drunk with blood and rum and wine ; we 
can’t make no head ag’inst ’em. Now, it seems 
a wicked thing to do to tear that girl away from 
her only friend and at such a time ; but it must 
be done, or in less ’n half an hour she and you 
and I will be dead, too.” And he brought his 
wooden leg down with a bang on the floor. 

“ True, Eli, I know it ; but what can I do ? ” 
“ Do ? Why, turn to and rouse her. Tell her, 
what ’s true, that the good nun is past all recovery, 
and if she values her life, and has any hope of ever 
seeing her father and sister (for it ’s plain as day- 
light to you and me who she is, of course — she s 
the Don’s youngest daughter), the only thing she 
can do is to up and come along with us.” 

And this I did, while my comrade watched at 
the door. I went in and touched the girl on 
the shoulder. She moved not, though I spake 
and told her of the peril we were in, and that to 

245 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


save lier life she must fly with us. I spake in 
English, though not knowing if she might under- 
stand me. 

After a space she looked up, but with eyes 
that seemed not to see me, and slowly replied 
that she cared not, for she knew there was no 
hope, and adjured me to save myself, giving no 
further thought to her. 

I responded that there might be hope — that 
she should not despair, for we were her friends, 
and would do our best to save her. 

She looked at me with her hopeless eyes, and 
asked wearily: “ For what? You will save me 
for what ? Who can escape those fiends ? ” 

Then, as if the thought of the pirates drove 
her to desperation, she sprang to her feet, and, 
drawing a small poniard from her dress, she 
exclaimed : “ This will save me from them ! ” 
and was about to plunge it into her breast when 
I sprang forward and grasped her wrist. 

“ Hold, senorita, hold ! ” I cried. “ Think of 
your sister, your father. I have news of them. 

246 


HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED 


I have seen them ; they have sent me for 
you ! ” 

She made an effort to wrench loose her wrist, 
her eyes flashing scorn, as though she misbelieved 
me and I lied. In sooth, she told me so : “Thou 
liest ! ” she cried. “ What would my father 
have to do with foul pirates ? He is a noble 
hidalgo of Spain, and — and — he would rather 
see me dead than beholden to a base bucanier ! ” 

“Ah, senorita,” I cried, almost in despair, 
“ if you will drop that stiletto, promising me not 
to recover it, so that my hands may be free, I will 
prove it to you eftsoon. And if I do not, I 
swear it, I will allow you to do what you will.” 

She said not a word, but loosed her fingers 
and allowed the blade to drop to the floor. I 
placed a foot upon it, not knowing but that she 
might repent herself and recover it, then with 
trembling fingers I fumbled in my doublet for the 
ring that I had hung upon the chain around my 
neck. I brought it forth, loosened it from the 
chain and placed it in her palm. 

lb — For Frey and Spoils. 247 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Her eyes dilated, losing in an instant their 
hard, strained look, then became suffused with 
tears. 

“ Sister ! papa ! ” she murmured. “ This is 
truly a token from them ! Tell me, friend, how 
didst come by it ? ” 

I told her, as briefly as possible ; for now the 
roar of guns and shrieks of the victims gave 
terrible warning. Then she placed a hand in 
mine, and said she would do as I wished ; but 
that she could not leave here alone, un cared for, 
unsepultered, the body of her teacher and friend. 
She was weeping ' now, for the unnatural calm 
that had possessed her had given away to weak- 
ness, and she trembled so that I called in my 
comrade to help me support her. 

“ No, no, I am brave, I am strong,” she cried. 
“I know our peril ; we must fly; but I cannot, 
oh, I cannot, leave Sister Cecelia here, all, all 
alone ! If you will carry her into the chapel, 
there I can prepare her for burial, for there is a 
tomb — her resting-place she used to call it — in 
248 


HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED 


which we can lay her, safe from the touch of 
vandal hands. 

“ Will you ? Will you ? Once there we can 
bar the great doors, and the sacristy adjoining 
is stored as for a siege, so that we may perchance 
hold out until the wretches have departed.” 

“ Yes, yes,” replied Eli. “ But lose no time. 
Lead the way, and we will bear the dear lady 
to her last bourne. Ah, sorrow is it that one so 
good and fair should have come to this ! ” 

A shudder shook the girl’s slender frame as 
we took up our burden, but she had nerved her- 
self for the supreme trial and did not fail. She 
went ahead of us until we came to the great 
door of the chapel, which was of massive build, 
thick and studded with nails. This we swung 
open and entered the dim interior, where the 
air was heavy with incense, and only the light 
from some candles illumined the room. The 
walls of the chapel were of stone and very 
thick, the windows merely slitted loopholes in 
the walls, while the roof was of thatch — a 


249 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


circumstance that came near being our undoing 
later on. 

Eli and I bore our precious burden with great 
care into the chapel, and deposited it upon the 
marble slab of a great tomb, which was built 
into a niche near the high altar. This tomb 
opened at the side by the pressing of a secret 
spring, the working of which the maiden under- 
stood, and lost no time in availing herself of the 
knowledge. By pressing the spring the appa- 
rently solid marble could be slid to one side in a 
groove, and this done there was revealed within 
a satin-covered couch, as if prepared for a bride. 
It was, in sooth, the last resting-place of the 
holy woman, which she had prepared against 
the contingency of her death ; but she never 
could have imagined that her death would have 
come about as it had. 

Alas ! Though we all must die, no one but 
feels sorrow when the inevitable end comes to a 
friend. Weeping afresh, the maiden smoothed the 
lady’s hair back from the fair white brow, raining 


250 


HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED 


kisses upon her cheeks, and then (well aware 
that time was precious) signalled us to lay her 
within the tomb. I groaned aloud, as well as 
in spirit, to think that I should have such a 
task imposed upon me ; and even old Eli, 
hardened man that he was, showed by his 
softened visage that he felt the sorrow of it all. 

Such a sepulture should have been accom- 
panied by prayer and holy offices ; but these 
were not available, so in chastened haste we 
placed the departed within the tomb, and then, 
after the maiden had bestowed a loving touch 
here and there, slid the marble back into its 
place. “Dust unto dust.” We had no sooner left 
our charge than the demands of the moment 
caused us to transform ourselves into men of 
action. Eli hastened back and closed the great 
door, locking and barring it against the ravening 
horde, which we could hear pouring through the 
corridors outside in search of us. There was a 
clatter of feet, mailed hands smote the door, 
then the butts of arquebuses battered against it. 


251 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Confused shouts and oaths rose above the din of 
distant battle, and we were called upon to sur- 
render. We paid no attention to the calls, but 
awaited in silence what might develop, knowing 
that our position was forlorn, if not indeed most 
desperate. The maiden clasped me by the hand, 
and pointed to the door of the sacristy, which 
opened into the chapel behind the high altar, 
and there I found, as she had said was there, 
great store of arms and provisions. There was 
enough of provisions in the way of food to carry 
us, I should think, through a siege of months, 
perad venture it should last so long ; but I knew 
my former companions would not endure the 
delay, and if they could not force us out soon 
would e-’en depart. The passage leading up to 
the door outside was narrow and crooked, afford- 
ing no scope for the use of a battering ram, so, 
after vainly endeavoring to force an entrance, 
the men withdrew, and for a space we breathed 
more freely ; though I could but think that the 
end had not yet come. 


252 


HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED 


“ Oh, they ’ll come back in less ’n no time,” 
said Eli, in response to a question by our com- 
panion. “ They ain’t goin’ to give us up so easy ; 
consarn their picters ! What I don’t like about 
the sitooation is the quietness of it. S’ long ’s 
they wus making an all-fired noise outside, why, 
we knowed jest where they was and what they 
was at; but now, blamed if I don’t b’lieve they ’re 
sneaking up with cannon to bumbard us, or 
some sich notion. One thing ’s true: they can’t 
git in at the winders, ’cause they ain’t any, 
hardly, on less we call them loopholes winders. 
The only thing I’m s’picious of is that ere thatch 
roof, made of palm leaves ’n poles, dry as tinder. 
It ’ll ketch fire like tow and turpentine. If it 
does, then we ’ve got to git out uv here quicker ’n 
greased lightnin’, I calkerlate. I wonder if there 
ain’t no dungeons or something of that sort we 
could hide in till the wust of it ’s over; that is, 
providin’ Morgan an’ the other divels press us a 
little too close ? ” 

I repeated his question to the senorita, and 
253 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


she shook her head. “ No,” she replied. Then 
she immediately added, as though she had sud- 
denly remembered something she had forgotten : 
“ But, yes, there are dungeons, only not made 
for living people. They are dead men’s dungeons, 
the catacombs of the holy men. Under the 
chapel is a vast subterraneo, but half filled with 
skeletons. Oh, I would not wish to go there, my 
friends.” 

“ Well, ma’am, we won’t go there unless we ’re 
driven to it,” rejoined Eli. “ But, jest as a sort 
of precaution, s’posen you show us the entrance, 
if you know whereabouts it is.” 

The maiden looked at me appealingly, then 
said, pointing to a marble slab set into the floor 
of the chapel near unto the tombs: “It is 
there.” Then she turned aside her face and 
shuddered. But Eli, notwithstanding her 
qualms, stumped over to the slab, and, finding 
a ring of iron deep set in it, pried it up from 
its resting-place without more ado. He had 
hardly gotten it moved to one side before our at- 
254 


HOW A ROOF WAS BURNED 


tention was attracted to the roof, where a curl of 
smoke proclaimed that truly the pirates had 
done as he had feared they would do and set it 
on fire. 

“ Jest ’s I thought,” he muttered, squinting 
one eye up at the roof. “ In less ’n ten minutes 
that air thatch will be blazing like all possessed, 
and when it falls we ’ve got to stand from un- 
der. Give me a lift here, Hump, so ’t I can 
get down into this ere pit and see ’f it ’ll do as a 
place of last resort. For us, I mean ; for it ’s 
that a’ready, if it ’s a dungeon tomb.” 

I took hold with him and removed the slab 
clear from the hole, so that he could have free 
passage, and down he dropped, after assuring 
himself that the distance to a landing was not 
great. Seeing that he was going to explore the 
place, the senorita fetched a candle from the 
sacristy, which she lighted and gave him, thus 
showing that she was as quick-witted as she was 
sweet and fair to look upon. The flicker of the 
light was soon lost in the darkness, and while 
255 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


tlie girl and I waited at the opening the flames 
above us spread as if they were devouring tin- 
der and tow, as Eli had most truly said they 
would. Not more than five minutes elapsed be- 
fore Eli’s reappearance, yet by that time the 
blaze above was terrific. Blazing bundles of 
palm leaves dropped to the floor at frequent in- 
tervals ; the upper part of the chapel was hidden 
in smoke, through which fell flaming brands, 
like meteors out of the darkness of night. 

256 


CHAPTER XVIII 

OUR REFUGE IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 

“ TT ELP me U P’ ant ^ about 

it, too,” said Eli, as liis head appeared 
below the opening. “ This ere catty- 
comb ’s full of skilingtons ; but I guess we ’ye 
got to take up our quarters here for a little bit, 
leastwise till the roof ’s burned up. The air ’s 
mighty close down here ; but it ain’t so bad as 
smoke and flame, seems to me. Bad air ’s 
better ’n no air at all, ma’am,” he said to the 
senorita, after I had pulled him out of the hole. 
“ Now get together all the food you can lay 
hands on in the space of three minntes, and 
bring all the jugs of water you can find, and 
take ’em into that there hole jest as soon ’s the 
Lord will let you. For there ain’t a minute to 
257 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


spare, lemme tell you, Hump. That roof ’ll be 
down on our heads in a little less ’n no time.” 

In very sooth, it did not need the earnest 
warning of our friend to inform the maiden 
and myself that we were soon to be engulfed in 
a fiery furance, for the air was hot and the smoke 
stifling, e’en most to suffocation. The senorita 
helped us right willingly to remove what of food 
we needed, and water — the which was stored in 
large earthen jars called “ ollas ” by the Spanish 
— to the hole in the chapel floor, down which 
once more dropped Eli, to whom I handed what 
we had gathered. Not a moment too soon, 
either, did we swiftly follow after, for the smoke 
and flames filled the great room as we left it 
and essayed a venture in the dungeon. I seized 
the maiden by the arms, and gently lowered her 
to Eli, who took her as if she had been made of 
glass, and as reverently as if she were an angel, 
depositing her on a heap of our effects. I then 
leaped after her, and, with Eli’s assistance, drew 
the marble slab over the aperture, leaving 
*58 



For Frey and Spoils — 6. 

“ HE HELD HIS CANDLE HIGH.” 


Seep. 259. 


















•'* 

















' * 












• • 





. 



IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 


merely a crack open for air. Then we lighted 
candles and looked around, the senorita and I 
for the first time viewing the gruesome scene 
that presented itself to our eyes. 

“ ’T ain’t jest the place we would choose to 
live in all the time,” said Eli, noticing our look 
of dismay ; “ but it ’ll serve our pu’pose while 
the fire lasts, I guess. Plenty of comp’ny, any- 
how, and the diff’rence betwixt them and us is 
that they ’ve got to stay here while we ’re likely 
to git away after the fire ’s gone out.” He held 
his candle high, so that we could sweep our 
glance along the walls of the dungeon, and 
revealed a sight that was enough to strike terror to 
a heart less stout than the senorita’s, or even mine, 
for the walls were lined with grinning, ghastly 
skeletons, all ranged in rows — the last remains 
of men who had once lived and moved as we 
then lived and moved, but now transfixed by 
death. They were dressed as they must have 
been when alive, and all were leaning against 
the walls, kept in place by bands about their 
259 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


crumbling remains. It was a sickening sight, 
and the maiden turned gasping to me, hiding her 
head for a space against my shoulder. Then I 
felt strong enough myself to withstand the 
sickening sensation that had begun to creep o’er 
me, for, my strength being necessary to support 
that frail girl, I summoned it back and felt 
equal to any emergency. 

Despite the terrors then encompassing us on 
every hand, I felt an actual joy to think that 
this maiden turned to me for comfort and sup- 
port. It had always been my -desire to have a 
sister, to love and to cherish, and perhaps — 
thought I at that moment — perhaps this gentle 
being will supply a sister’s place in my heart. 
I thanked God that He had given me some one 
to care for, and hoped occasion might arise by 
which I could prove myself worthy of her 
confidence. 

So absorbed was I in the thought that I was 
scarcely aroused when a tremendous crash pro- 
claimed that some of the timbers had fallen 
260 


IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 


from the roof. This was followed by a swirl of 
smoke and cinders, and, the hot air forcing itself 
into our retreat, we were nearly suffocated. 
Crash followed crash, until at last all the timbers 
had fallen in and the walls alone of the chapel 
were left standing. The heat was terrific, and 
the blinding smoke that filled the room and pene- 
trated e’en to the dungeon pit, added to our 
discomfort. We could scarce breathe, but yet 
dared not remove the slab above us for fear we 
should be roasted alive ; and e’en after the 
flames had spent their fury and the roar of the 
fire had subsided we still crouched in our living 
grave, silent and trembling, fearing to leave it 
lest perchance those who had set the fire should 
yet gain entrance to the building and slay us, 
after all. 

“ ’T ain’t very nice here, that ’s a fact,” said 
Eli, his voice muffled by the noise without ; 
“ but it ’s a blame sight better ’n going out and 
taking the chances. Them that set the fire may 
be right after it, to make sure we ’re dead, so the 

261 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


best thing we can do is play possum ’s long ’s 
we can stand it.” 

But no one came to disturb us, and, after the 
heat had subsided somewhat and the smoke had 
cleared away, Eli and I ventured to lift the slab ; 
though we nearly dropped it back upon our 
heads, through its being so hot as to burn our 
fingers withal when we first essayed it. Hot 
ashes and cinders, too, rained down upon us as 
we slid it to one side and peered forth ; or rather 
as I did, standing upon Eli’s shoulders and 
looking fearsomely out upon the dismal scene. 
Nothing met my eye, however, but the bare, 
smoke-blackened walls and the smouldering 
rubbish on the floor, so I reported to Eli that I 
thought we might venture out, at least into the 
room above. He was of the same opinion, and, 
after he had assisted me to gain the floor, I reached 
down and drew the senorita up beside me. Then 
we both helped our friend out, after he passed up 
the food and water, neither of which had we 
touched. A useless labor, all this, one may say; 

262 


IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 


but we knew not wliat to provide for when we 
descended into the dungeon, and had to meet all 
possible emergencies in advance. 

So here we were, after having passed through 
the fiery furnace, after having descended into 
the chamber of the dead, right back where we 
had started from, and none the worse for our 
experience, save for the bad air we had breathed 
and the shock to our nerves. And I was the 
gainer, me thinks, for I had gained the confidence 
of the maiden, who, having once given her trust to 
me, seemed not desirous to withdraw it. That 
is, she now trusted me without reserve, not 
questioning my motives, but seeming to believe 
that I would eventually save her, and finally 
conduct her to her father and sister. Her trust 
in me gave me strength, as I have said, and it 
was a pure delight to look ever and again into 
her beautiful eyes, seeing there naught but 
implicit faith and confidence. 

The silence continuing for an hour, at least, 
Eli proposed that we shoot back the bolts of the 

77 — For Frey and Spoils. 26 X 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


big door and peer out into tlie corridor, if even 
we should not venture farther. The seiiorita 
clutched my arm when this was broached, and 
begged us not to take any unnecessary risks upon 
ourselves. “ Why haste to leave this place ? ” 
she asked. “ We are surely safe here, even if 
restrained of our liberty. We have food enough 
to last a month ; we need not go forth yet. Let 
us stay until all danger is past. But yet — but 
yet,” she added, “ there is this chance if we go 
forth — that we may be of service to such as the 
pirates may have left suffering from wounds. 
Oh, I cannot tell what is best. I leave it to you, 
my friends.” 

Woman -like, she had begun to beg us to do a 
thing, and then had changed her mind and 
feared we might do it. 

“ Well, ma’am,” said Eli, drawing circles in 
the hot ashes with the end of his wooden leg the 
while he spake, “ it ’s jest this way, ma’am : 
If we stay we ’re jest as safe ’s we were before 
and no safer. As you say, we ’ve got plenty to 
264 


IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 


eat and drink ; and then ag’in, as you say, we 
might do a good deal of good by going out and 
a-hunting up the wounded and suffering. There ’s 
two sides to this ere question, and Hump and 
I ’ll leave it for you to decide for us.” 

“ I — I would like to succor the suffering, al- 
beit there be such,” she replied, sweetly and 
modestly, “ and as far as my life is concerned I 
am ready to risk it in the endeavor. But it is a 
poor life, and not worth so much as yours, I 
ween. Still, if you will go, I go also.” 

“ Spoken like a brave girl,” exclaimed Eli. 
“ But, as to the wutli of our lives, the good Lord 
only knows. I know this : I wish I had as few 
sins to answer for as you have. Bless your 
sweet soul, my child, you ’re like an angel from 
heaven in your innocence. Ain’t she, Hump? 
Say, boy, ain’t she the sweetest, purtiest girl you 
ever see ? ” 

This outspoken praise from the old man might 
have been embarrassing had we been in different 
circumstance^; and, as it was, I felt the blood 
2 65 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


rush to my face as I nodded my head in assent. 
The senorita blushed rosy red, then the blood 
left her face almost as quickly as it had mounted 
to her cheeks. She looked at Eli in some won- 
der, at first perhaps not comprehending his 
meaning, then she stole a glance at me, and, 
seeing my confusion, burst into a laugh. It was 
the most musical peal of laughter I ever heard, 
and it was refreshing to my soul, for we had en- 
dured so much of sadness of late it seemed there 
was to be nothing else. 

I, too, laughed in sheer happiness, to think 
that she could so far forget, e’en if for but a mo- 
ment, the terrible happenings of the past hours, 
and then Eli, too, caught the infection and joined 
in. It was but for an instant that the girl 
allowed herself to be merry, for the next moment 
there came to her a realizing sense of our true 
condition, and the tears followed hard after the 
merriment. Then, seeing the effect her tears had 
upon me, perchance by my rueful countenance, 
she smiled through her tears, and it was like 

266 


IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 


sunshine through a shower, or more like the bow 
of beauty and of promise that God set in the 
heavens as a token. But whatever the cause of 
all this, the effect was that of a refreshing 
shower. The atmosphere was cleared, and hence- 
forth we knew and understood each other better 
than before. 

“Well,” said Eli, after all was over, “guess 
we ’d better make a try of it; had n’t we? We ’ll 
all go together, and live and die together. Ain’t 
that it, ma’am ? ” The senorita nodded her 
pretty head, gathered her mantilla about her 
most gracefully, as if going out to church, placed 
a hand in one of mine, and stood by me quietly, 
though quivering with suppressed excitement, 
the while Eli shot back the great bolts, one after 
another. 

“ Hold your musquet ready, Hump,” he said, 
warningly. “There might be somebody hiding 
behind the door. So, when I throw it open, jest 
you stand ready to shoot, if need be. Look to 
your flint and priming now; here goes !” With 
267 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


that he threw open the door, and, the senorita 
haying loosened her clasp on my hand, I threw 
my musqet up at “ ready ” and stood awaiting 
an attack. But none came. In the corridor, 
which we could see stretching away before us, 
by stepping through the doorway and peering 
around the angle of the wall, nobody was in 
sight, and the silence of death reigned through- 
out. We breathed sighs of relief, all of us, and 
gathering up his arms, consisting of a brace of 
pistols, a cutlass and a musquet, Eli stumped 
ahead, insisting, as usual, to lead the van. I 
followed, with the senorita close behind, and in 
this order we went forth to see what we could 
find. 

Emerging from the convent doorway, we came 
into the main street of the city, and there we 
first saw evidences of the terrible strife that had 
taken place. The walls of many houses were 
still spattered with blood, and here and there 
lay a contorted corpse, while the flocks of car- 
rion crows, circling overhead and waddling 
268 


IN THE DUNGEONS OF THE DEAD 


through the street, betokened that a ghastly 
banquet had been prepared for them by the hu- 
man brutes who had invaded this peaceful place 
and put its people to the sword. 

“ Don’t you think, ma’am, you ’d better go 
back and wait for us in the convent ?” asked 
Eli of the seiiorita. 

“Yes, please, do,” I also entreated, for I 
feared, as did Eli, that the scenes which we 
knew could not but soon be disclosed would cause 
her infinite pain, and perhaps be more than she 
could bear. But she shook her head, though 
her face blanched and her lips were too rigid for 
her to form a word in reply. 

Finally, she whispered : “ I must go on with 
you. The worst, I know, has happened, and we 
may find our friends and neighbors slain, all of 
them ; but I cannot stay alone.” We said no 
more, but again took up our march for the fort, 
our hearts almost stilled with apprehension. 

I would fain not tell what we found there, 
but the slain lay in heaps around the walls. 

269 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


And — the most fearsome sight that heaven ever 
looked upon — there lay the nuns and maidens 
who had been driven by heartless Morgan to 
their death. It was like a second massacre of 
Saint Ursula and her hapless virgins, and I 
thought the senorita would die of heartbreak as 
she groped her way about, finding here a friend 
and there one who had been a companion, 
amongst the scores who had been so ruthlessly 
cut down. 


CHAPTER XIX 

A VOYAGE ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 

T HE days tliat ensued were so filled with 
horrors that I would rather pass them 
by, were they not so important in the un- 
folding of this narrative ; but they formed links 
in the chain that connected us once more with 
the pirates, whom we had hoped forever gone 
from our sight. How we lived I know not, and 
especially how the senorita survived the horrid 
sights that met her gaze on every hand. As 
much as possible, Eli and I kept her in the 
background, while we went among the dead and 
gave them Christian burial. Not many people 
were left alive, though a few had hidden in the 
forest behind the town and some had survived 
their wounds. 


271 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


The governor of the fort we found dead amongst 
a heap of slain, he having paid the price for his 
mistake in allowing the buccaneers to approach 
the walls of the fort without training his guns 
upon them. As we afterward learned from one 
of his soldiers who survived the attack, he per- 
ceived his error when Morgan brought up the 
maidens to place the scaling-ladders against the 
walls, and, rather than survive such a shameful 
deed, he fought until cut down. If he had not 
been slain by the enemy, the soldier said, he 
would have fallen upon his own sword, for there 
was naught else to do after having (though per- 
force) fired upon his own countrywomen. He 
was a noble soul, and in the great accounting 
hereafter, to which all must come, he will doubt- 
less fare well as compared with such as Morgan 
and Mansvelt, whose souls were stained with 
innocent blood. 

The buccaneers had departed, but not until 
they had, as they thought, put every living thing 
in Porto Bello to the sword. They even killed 

272 


ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 


the cattle and horses in the fields; they razed 
the walls of the fort, and sailed away, bearing 
immense treasure; but whither they had gone 
we knew not; only Eli surmised, from what he 
had overheard on our voyage hither, that they 
would steer for the isle of Catalina, or perchance 
for Chagres, whence the isthmus might be crossed 
and the rich city of Panama invested. But we 
were to ascertain soon whither they had sailed, 
and to find that it was not to either of the desti- 
nations we had supposed probable. They had 
left no vessel afloat in the harbor, having scut- 
tled and sunk all they took not away with them, 
so we were in a quandary as to how we might 
escape this pestilential spot. 

A way was provided, but it was not the one 
we would have chosen had the matter been left 
to us. Nearly a week after we had sailed forth 
from the chapel, w T here we had been consigned, 
as the buccaneers imagined, to a dreadful death, 
we were gladdened by the sight of a sail on the 
western horizon. Having been for days engaged 

273 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


in burying the dead and succoring the wounded 
(in which occupation the senorita, had proved 
a veritable angel of mercy, toiling night and 
day without a murmur and enduring incredible 
privations) , we were gladdened, I say, e’en though 
the sail might have been one pertaining to a 
pirate ship. 

God worketh in a most wonderful way to 
further the designs of those who trust in Him. 
It proved that the approaching sail was a Spanish 
galleon, one of a fleet which had set out from 
the isthmus for Spain, but, becoming crippled 
through an accident to its rudder, it had turned 
about and sought succor at Porto Bello. As it 
loomed larger and larger, the hope in our hearts 
grew stronger, for we knew, as soon as we saw 
the flag of Spain, that we had naught to fear. 
We gathered at the landing-place of the port, 
and there waved ever and anon a large white 
flag, in order that the master of the galleon 
might be made aware that there were friends 
ashore. For, seeing no boats in the harbor or 

274 


ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 


fisliing along the shore, as would have been 
natural, and, moreover, seeing the fort in ruins, 
he would have been suspicious, and perhaps 
have sheered off and left the port altogether. 

“ It won’t do to let her get away,” said Eli, 
waving the white banner vigorously. “ We 
don’t want to stay in this here hole any longer ’n 
we can help. For, what with the lack of living 
comp’ny and the many dead that it has been 
impossible for us to bury, there ’s no knowing 
what might happen. We ’ll all get fever, any- 
how, if we stay here another week, I ’in con- 
ceiting. Ah, there she heaves to ; she ’s sending 
a boat overboard ; now the men are tumbling 
into it ; now they ’re rowing this way. Hurray ! 
guess, we ’ll be rescood this time, though I mis- 
doubt what they ’ll do to me when they find 
out I ’m a buccaileer.” 

“ But why should they find it out ? ” asked the 
senorita. “ I shall not tell, nor will Senor 
Humphrey, I am very sure.” 

“ Of course not,” I answered with warmth, 
275 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“And so far as that goes, I ’m just as much of 
a buccaneer as Eli is, though not quite so long 
at the business. But he s going to swear off ; 
are n’t you, Eli, and not be a buccaneer any 
more?” 

“ If the good Lord ’ll let me,” answered the 
old buccaneer. “ But my intentions don’t seem 
to amount to much, for I ’ye sworn off more ’n 
forty times in the past twenty years, and some- 
thing or other ’s always turned up to yank me 
back ag’in into the ranks. Now, ma’am, and 
Hump, you hear me say ’t, I ’ll foreswear the 
buccaneer’s calling if the Lord will only let me ; 
but, you also hear me say ’t, something ’ll 
happen to prevent me from escaping from the 
clutches of bully Morgan and Monseer Mansvelt. 
It does seem ’s though they had a grip on every 
man that ’s once in their service that could n’t 
be shooken. Now, here comes a boat from a 
Don’s great galleon, and we presoom that ’t will 
take us to Spain, or else some other Spanish 
possession ; but, mark my words, I b’lieve ’t 
276 


ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 


will bear us right back ag’in into the buccaneer’s 
jaws. Sorry to seem so doleful, ma’am, but 
them ’s my sentiments, and I can’t give out no 
other.” 

“ I would like to get back to Spain,” said the 
senorita, thoughtfully ; “ but first I wish to see 
my papa and my sister, and take them with me. 
Do you think, Senor Humphrey, that the captain 
of the galleon might be j>revailed upon to call 
with us at Tortuga, even if just for an hour, to 
take them away ? It seems that my heart will 
break with all the dread doings of the past weeks 
and this uncertainty.” 

The maiden looked so wan, and withal gazed 
so beseechingly into my eyes, that I fain would 
have given my life to serve her. But she knew 
that I would honestly divulge my opinion, even 
if it were adverse to her desires. So I told her 
that even were it possible for the master of the 
Spanish ship to change his course and sail north- 
wardly to Tortuga, it would hardly be discreet 
for him to do so, peradventure he might meet up 
277 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


with the pirate fleet. Still, we would consult 
him, and anyway ask him to bear us from this 
port.” 

“ But I do not want to leave unless I can go 
to my papa and my sister,” declared the senorita. 
And I know that if I can lay the matter before 
the captain of the galleon, and provided he be a 
true son of Spain, he will even run the risk of 
his life to accomplish my desires. As for money — 
wealth — I can reward him by vastly more than 
the worth of his vessel, for my papa would not 
regard any price for my return to him, as 
he has treasures untold at his castle in Anda- 
lusia.” 

“ True, my lady,” I rejoined ; “ and I trust the 
captain will be open to argument, and sooth, thou 
knowest that both Eli and myself would consider 
no risk too great if we might accomplish thy de- 
sires. I was merely telling of the objections that 
might be raised, in order that thou mightest not 
be disappointed.” 

“ Thou art a true friend, Sefior Humphrey, 
278 


ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 


for tliou dost not mislead one ; still, let me hope 
for the best until the worst is known; ” 

Meanwhile the boat approached to land and 
came within hail. A gallant looking man in 
uniform sat at the helm, and a sturdy company 
of musqueteers held their arms ready at com- 
mand while the sailors rowed to shore. Eli and 
I hastened to aid in drawing the boat upon the 
sands, and the man at the helm lost no time in 
leaping ashore and interrogating us as to the 
cause of the desolation on every hand. He did 
not at first see the senorita, for she had held her- 
self aloof ; but as he spake Spanish, of which our 
understanding was but meagre, she came to the 
rescue from behind a wall where she had hidden 
herself, and appeared before us. At the sound 
of her musical voice, speaking to him in the 
liquid accents of his native tongue, the captain 
started violently, and, doffing his hat, bowed low 
as he said : 

“ Methought I heard an angel, now my eyes 
tell me that I heard aright.” 

j8 — For Prey and Spoils. 2 79 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


He was an old man with gray beard and 
moustacliios, and lie moreover had the bearing 
of a gentleman, so I felt that his exaggerated 
style of speech was not intended for mere flattery, 
but proceeded from custom. 

“ No angel, senor capitan,” replied our lovely 
maiden, “ but a countrywoman of yours in dis- 
tress. I am the daughther of Count Pasquale 
de los Pemedios, who with my sister is now 
a prisoner at Tortuga. I and my friends here 
are survivors of a recent attack upon Porto 
Bello by those same buccaneers, who have de- 
parted leaving it desolate, as you may see, senor.” 

The captain bowed again, this time nearly 
touching the ground with his forehead. “ I am 
your servant, senorita. Much as I mourn to 
discover a daughter of the famous Count 
Pasquale in distress, I thank my stars and 
fortune that it has fallen to me to be the humble 
means of her rescue. Senorita, I and my ship, 
and all my men, are at your disposal. Tell 
your servant what he can do, and he will at once 
280 


ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 


move heaven and earth to perform that service 
for the lovely daughter of the great and mighty 
Count Pasquale.” 

The captain concluded this pretty speech with 
another bow, sweeping the ground with his 
chapeau, and placed his hand on his heart as an 
earnest of his good intentions. 

Our senorita could hardly repress a smile, 
despite the gravity of the occasion, yet she 
replied most sweetly : “ Senor capitan, you do 
me great honor. I knew, of course, that any 
gallant sailor flying the flag of Spain would hold 
his service at the command of a maiden in dis- 
tress ; and, senor, I am in such dire straits that 
I must ask a favor of you and your men — a 
favor which my father will requite with the 
half of his estates. It is this — to take me to the 
isle of Tortuga, there to rescue my father and 
my sister from the peril they are in. Thence 
you may take us whither you like, whither your 
duty carries you ; but I trust it will be to 
Spain.” 


281 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


The captain’s face, as the senorita unfolded 
her request, was indeed a study. As it developed 
that she wished him to take her to Tortuga, 
which he, of course, knew as a den of buccaneers, 
the deadly foes of all honest mariners, and 
especially of his nationality, his countenance 
became almost livid at the thought. When she 
had concluded, his confusion was most pitiful, 
for he had indeed no desire to proceed to 
Tortuga, neither wished he, hardly dared he, to 
deny the request of a fair Spanish woman, and 
particularly the daughter of a powerful noble 
like the Count de los Kemedios, e ’en though 
he were then a prisoner. He was descended 
from one of Spain’s most ancient families and 
allied with some of the greatest grandees of 
Sevilla and Granada. 

“ Most noble senorita, your desire is — should 
be — my law ; but — but, fairest daughter of my 
native land, I — that is, my owners — have a 
king’s ransom concealed in the hold of yonder 
galleon ; that is, we have gold from the Peruvian 
282 


ON A GOLD-LADEN GALLEON 


mines beyond a million in value; and, more- 
over, one-fifth of it belongs by right of law to 
his majesty the king. Hence, O most worthy 
daughter of my country’s most noble son, I dare 
not put my vessel in jeopardy, even for your 
sake. It is not that I would not lay down my 
very life for you ; and of this mind, were I to 
speak to them, would be all my men, to the last 
one. We do not fear the bucaniers, but we fear 
the king’s displeasure, senorita. Even at this 
moment I am far too near the pirates’ rendezvous, 
forced to come here through stress of circum- 
stances.” 

The senorita’s lips curled with scorn, and she 
flashed a look at the captain which caused him 
to shrink into himself like the head of a tortoise 
within its shell. But she said naught more than 
this : “ AVliere, then, senor, can you take us ? 
For we must go hence.” 

“ I came here in search of a shipwright,” 
he hastened to explain, “ to repair a damaged 
rudder ; but as all are, as you say, either dead or 
283 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


departed, I must sail for the next available port, 
which, so far as I know, is Maracaibo. There, 
doubtless, we shall find a Spanish frigate, with 
the commander of which I will use my good 
offices to have you taken to Tortuga.” 

“ A thousand thanks, senor capitan ; but we 
will trouble you only to take us hence. It may 
as well be Maracaibo, perhaps, as any other port, 
and we will trust to fortune for meeting there a 
commander who is not afraid of the buccaneers ! ” 

284 


CHAPTER XX 

WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID AT MARACAIBO 

A FTER the captain of the galleon had 
inspected the ruins and seen that it was 
hopeless to expect to repair his vessel at 
Porto Bello, he was in great haste to sail for 
Maracaibo, which port, situated on a great lake 
protected by forts at its narrow entrance, he 
thought would be safe to tarry in during the 
time necessary to make repairs. He would be 
overdue at Cadiz, owing to sailing so far out of 
his course already ; but the repairs were neces- 
sary, and perforce must be made. 

He was graciousness itself after the severe re- 
proof he had received from the senorita, and 
took us aboard the galleon without asking of Eli 
or myself any question as to our previous calling 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


or how we came to be connected with the bucca- 
neers. There was a coolness between him and 
our senorita, but no lack of politeness, and, as 
luck would have it (he explained to her), there 
was a Spanish lady on her way home from Peru 
whose cabin she could share, and thus avoid any 
scandal that might otherwise arise from going on 
a ship unattended. I must give the captain 
credit for being most thoughtfully attentive to 
our senorita, e’en as a father might have been to 
a daughter ; and in the minds of Eli and myself 
no blame could be laid to him for refusing to 
jeopardize his ship, his men and his precious 
cargo by running into the jaws of the bucca- 
neers. The senorita took his refusal much to 
heart, she had so much at stake ; and, being a 
woman, she could not understand his reason for 
refusal ; whereas it was plain enough for any 
man of sense. 

“ Can’t blame the old capt’in a bit,” said Eli 
to me, when we were out of earshot of them both. 
“ Of course, the gal ’s all cut up ’cause he won’t 
286 


WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID 


put about and run slap into the wust den of 
pirates in the Caribbean, or for that matter in the 
whole world. I tell you, Hump, I was awful 
’fraid he or she would appeal to you or me for our 
’pinion, and though it would have gone ag’inst 
the grain to say I agreed with the capt’in, seems 
to me I ’d uv had to do it. Odds blood ! but 
it ’s hard on her, though, to be carried away 
from her father and sister when she thought she 
had a right to demand a safe passage right to 
where they are. But she ’s got pluck, Hump, 
hain’t she ? Did you see the old Don curl up, 
jest like the toe of a burnt boot, when she flashed 
them eyes of hern at him and puckered up her 
dainty lips. I bet he ’d have gi’n something to 
be out of the scrape with her approval, ruther ’n 
her scorn, eh, Hump ? ” 

I admitted to Eli that the captain’s position 
was unenviable, to say the least, and also that I 
could not but agree that he had decided wisely 
in refusing her request. “ Still,” I added, “ it 
makes it all the harder for us, Eli, for we are in 
287 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


honor bound to bring the senorita and her kin 
together, somehow. Just now we are sailing 
still farther away from Tortuga, and who knows 
but we may reach old Spain itself before we get 
through ? ” 

“ Jest what I ’ve been thinking myself,” said 
Eli. “ But I don’t care if they take us to the 
ends of the airth, I ’m bound to get back to Tor- 
tuga and try to rescoo our friends there, if it 
takes years.” 

“Yes,” I assented. “Think of poor John 
there all alone in the hut watching for our com- 
ing, day by day, and guarding a secret which, 
if it were known, would probably cost him his 
life.” 

“ Oh, yes, I have thunk, and thunk, and so 
far I can’t see no way out of the fix we ’re in, 
Hump, ’nless a miracle happens ; which ain’t 
likely. What I ’m afraid of is meeting up ag’in 
with the Brethring. Howsomever, s’ long ’s 
there ’s life there ’s hope; and if we get killed 
there won’t be nothing to worry about. We ’ve 
288 


WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID 


slipped cable now, that ’s sart’in, and are sailing 
with a free sheet and a flowing sea.” 

The quarters aboard the galleon were quite 
comfortable, but the men were all suspicious 
from the first, eyeing us askance and apparently 
desirous of picking a quarrel with us, on account 
of the fact haying leaked out that we were erst- 
while buccaneers. Both Eli and myself were 
well put to it to avoid drawing our cutlasses and 
having the matter out at first hands ; but the 
thought of what we had at stake — of the senorita, 
who now depended wholly upon us to fulfill 
the promise I had made of taking her to her 
father, and of poor John, who full oft tugged 
hard at my heart-strings — these thoughts stayed 
our hands when oft our heads were hot. 

And we were sailing into the unknown, but 
with a certainty of some exciting adventure. In 
due course we sighted the peninsula of Goro, 
which juts out from the Venezuelan main, and 
then the bight that gave entrance into the Gulpli 
of Maracaibo. As we drew nigh to the narrow- 

289 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


est part of tlie strait that gives into the gulph 
we saw several large ships lying at anchor, the 
which, after closely scanning through the glass, 
the captain joyfully announced to be Spanish 
frigates. A great shout went up as the tidings 
were communicated to the sailors ; for the galleon’s 
crew had grave doubts as to the wisdom of sail- 
ing so close to the main at this time, knowing 
well that the buccaneer’s fleet was scouring the 
sea in this direction. 

Their troubles seemed now to be o ’er ; but in 
sooth they had only begun ; while our own were 
dreadfully augmented — as will soon appear in 
this narrative. We approached the fleet with 
colors flying and every token of our joy made 
manifest ; but as we drew near we could not but 
note that all the frigates were drawn up in line 
of battle array, with ports open, guns thrust out 
and nettings spread along the bulwarks, as if to 
repel boarders. 

As we came within speaking distance a voice 
hailed us through a trumpet from the foremost 


290 


WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID 


frigate, ordering us to sail to tlie rear of tlie line, 
run out wliat guns we had and take position to 
make a desperate defence. When our luckless 
captain asked the trouble, he was saluted with a 
good round Spanish oath, and told to sail up the 
lake if he wished to be set upon by bucaniers. 
The dread word was passed from lip to lip, and 
soon reached the group nearest Eli and myself. 
We were standing a little aloof, as usual, but the 
word was wafted to us, and caused Eli to prick 
up his ears instanter. He dashed to the side 
and swung himself into the rigging, whence he 
could get a view ahead, hopping up the ratlines 
on one foot with wonderful alacrity. Shading 
his eyes with his hands, he took a long look up 
the lake, then called down for me to join him. 
When I reached his side he pointed ahead, and 
asked me if I recognized any familiar craft in a 
bunch of vessels that I could see gathered less 
than two miles away. 

The question need not have been asked, as 
he well knew, for the fleet gathered there was 
291 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


none other than the one we had set sail in from 
Tortuga for Porto Bello, and which we had 
hoped never to see again. There it was, the ad- 
miral’s frigate in the midst, with the black flag, 
death’s head and cross-bones and all that pro- 
claimed the craft to be the pirate’s own. I felt 
my heart stand still, it seemed to me then, and 
looked at Eli anxiously for his opinion. 

“Well,” he said, in answer to my gaze, 
“ they ’re all there : ‘ Big Bess,’ the 4 Holy Carrack,’ 
‘Santa Maria’ and all the rest, sure ’s musquets 
can shoot better ’n arquebuses and musketoons. 
They ain’t licked us yet, to be sure, but there 
ain’t a bit of doubt but they will. The Spaniards 
think they ’ve got ’em penned up and ready to 
s’render, but they don’t know Bully Morgan 
and Mounseer Mansvelt so well as we do, Hump. 
Here the Spanish admiral ’s got his ships 
stretched right across the channel, thinking 
prob’ly that he can stop the Brethring from 
coming out. Why, sakes alive, Hump, when 
they make up their minds to come out they won’t 

292 


WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID 


ask permission of nobody, but they ’ll jest come; 
see if they don’t ! ” 

“But how can they, Eli? They can’t break 
through this line of battleships, every one of 
which carries heavier guns than any of the 
buccaneers’ fleet.” 

“ Don’t know, Hump, my son, but they will 
when they git good and ready, my word for it. 
I have an idee as to how they ’ll do it — least- 
wise, as to how I ’d do it — but it may n’t be 
their ’n.” 

In the meanwhile our ship had worn about 
and taken her place in the line, nearest shore 
from mid-channel. All our guns were out and 
matches lighted, pikes and cutlasses had been 
passed around, and nettings stretched along the 
bulwarks, after the manner of the men-of-war. 
Our galleon had a tremendously high poop, like 
a castle, and stood very well up from the water, 
so that we had little to fear from boarders, at 
least first along in the fight. 

A great hubbub from the ships caused us to 
2 93 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


look more closely up tlie lake, and there we saw 
a ship — one of the biggest — detached from the 
buccaneer fleet and slowly drifting toward us. 
The men-of-war, lying broadside to the ap- 
proaching ship, trained their guns upon her, 
and it looked as though she were drifting 
straight to destruction, for our ships were chained 
together, and she could by no means get through, 
perchance she might survive their fire. She 
approached within a mile, within half a mile, 
and nearer yet, until we could see the men in 
her rigging and upon her deck. The great 
guns, and e’en the demi-culverins, were pour- 
ing in their shots by now, and yet on came the 
doomed craft, drifting straight toward the flag- 
ship of the Spanish admiral. Some of the cannon 
were firing hot shot, and when at last flames 
were seen to burst out amidship a mighty shout 
went up from the Spanish ships. 

“Oh, the fools,” yelled Eli. “Oh, these 
Spanish fools ! That fire ain’t caused by their 
hot shot, Hump. She ’s a fire-ship ! ” 

294 


WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID 


It was even so. A fire-ship surely she was, and 
by this time the flames had burst out all over 
her. The wily buccaneers had filled her with 
combustibles; had placed wooden men in her 
figging and on her decks to draw the Spaniards’ 
fire, while a small crew of reckless spirits was 
concealed below biding what might betide, be it 
death or be it victory. The most desperate of 
the pirates was dexterously handling the helm, 
for he headed the craft directly at the Spanish 
flag-ship, and betime the admiral saw his peril 
it was too late. He trained all his broadside 
guns upon her in a vain attempt to sink her be- 
fore they came together; he then tried to claw 
off out of her course; but this he could not do, 
for he was chained, or cabled, fore and aft to 
the vessel in front and in the rear of him. 
The instant the fire-ship struck the admiral’s 
frigate she was fastened to it by grappling-irons 
— the work of men who until that moment had 
been invisible — and the flames leaped like light- 
ning from the rigging of one ship to the other. 

iq — F or Prey and Spoils. 2 Q5 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


Wrapped as was tlie fire-ship in vast sheets of 
flame, it was but a short time before the admiral’s 
gallant frigate was also enveloped, and before 
our captain could detach the galleon from the 
perilous chain the buccaneers were upon us. 

They had followed hard after, like wolves in 
the wake of a forest fire, in order to strike be- 
fore the Spaniards could recover from the con- 
fusion into which the advent of the fire-ship 
had cast them. Through the flame and the 
smoke they sent cannon shot fast and most 
furious, and, what was yet worse, by far and more 
destructive, hollow shot or shells filled with ex- 
plosives, fired from cast-iron guns, which some 
call mortars or howitzers, and which the buc- 
caneers captured from French ships, thus having 
them in use even before England knew of them. 
These fiery messengers of death seemed endowed 
with the malific spirit of the pirates themselves, 
and sought us out as if alive and veritable de- 
mons of the invisible world. The canopy of 
smoke that hung over the lake obscured all 
296 


WHAT THE FIRE-RAFT DID 


except objects immediately near us, and pre- 
vented us from discerning the pirate ships ; but, 
as we presented a broader and more compact 
body, the exact position of which was known 
to the attacking ships, we could not escape. In 
vain our captain tried to escape by hoisting sail 
and bearing out toward the sea. In its crippled 
condition the galleon could not make headway, 
and we only drifted back upon the enemy. We 
were, in sooth, the first to surrender after the 
admiral’s frigate, for over our sides came pour- 
ing a flood of pirates, pistoled and cutlassed, 
after the manner of them when in search of 
prey. 

The Spanish captain had asked us if we would 
fight them, and we responded by baring our 
arms, loosening our belts with our pistols and 
cutlasses therein, and priming our musquets. 
This was before the advent of the boarders, and 
we had in return asked of him but one favor — that 
we might stand at the gangway to the ladies’ cabin 
(which was far up in the castle and would prob- 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


ably be tlie last portion of the ship attacked, 
unless cut through by cannon-shot) and be fur- 
nished with all the fire-arms he could spare from 
his own men. He smiled sadly at this request, 
saying that he feared there would be but too 
many arms to spare, his men not seeming to 
have stomach for a fight. But he willingly 
granted our request, and thus it was that when 
the crisis came — when the deluge of boarders 
poured over the bulwarks — brave old Eli stood 
by my side, and both of us were on guard at the 
door of the cabin. And our senorita stood also 
with us, smiling into our eyes and filling our 
hearts with a courage invincible. 

298 


CHAPTER XXI 

A FIGHT TO THE FINISH FOR HONOR 

T HE senorita stood with us, but when she 
first appeared Eli and I did not know it 
was she. There emerged from the cabin 
a handsome young man, or boy, but brown as 
to complexion and with eyes black as sloes. 
He had a sword in his hand, and as he came to 
the spot at which we had taken our stand he 
said : “ By ’re favor, gentles, I will stand with 
you through the fight that is coming.” 

“ We are here,” I replied, “ to defend the 
ladies in the cabin below, whose honor may be 
imperiled if the pirates succeed in boarding our 
ship. The fight will doubtless be a stiff one, 
and you had better consider twice before engag- 
ing in it, young sir.” 


299 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Mayhap it be,” rejoined the lad, “ but if I 
die it shall be in gallant company. But you 
speak of ladies, senor. Let me tell you, there 
are no ladies down below, only one lady, a 
senora from Peru.” 

“What?” I exclaimed. “Is there not a 
senorita, also, the daughter of Don Pasquale del 
Mar de los Remedios of Spain ? ” 

“No, senor,” replied the lad, albeit with a 
twinkle in his eye. “ She is not there. In 
sooth, I have not seen her since — ” 

“ Since you looked in the glass,” interrupted 
Eli, and slapping me on the shoulder. “ Hump, 
you dolt, here stands the senorita before you 
now. Why, it ’s as plain to me as the nose on 
my face ; but I can’t account, of course, for the 
nut-brown complexion.” 

“ But I can,” said the senorita, with a merry 
laugh ; “ I made it myself, and I did hope that 
neither of you would know me in this disguise. 
But you will allow me to stay with you, will you 
not?” 


300 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


“ Me thinks it would be better for you to 
remain below, ma’am,” replied Eli, seriously. 
“ Not that we would n’t like your company, to 
be sure ; but the young master and myself have 
planned to fight back to back when the tight 
squeeze comes, and I ’m reely afraid you ’d be 
rather in the way.” 

The maiden looked at me appealingly. “And 
are you of the same mind, too?” she enquired, 
with a world of pleading in her eyes. 

“ Our friend has spoken truly,” I answered, 
“ that the prospective peril is great, and we can 
render you, and perhaps ourselves, greater ser- 
vice if you should remain out of sight.” 

“ So be it, then,” she said with a sigh, the 
light all going out of her eyes. “ But I cannot 
endure the thought of my brave friends out fight- 
ing for me all alone, and I so near and yet render- 
ing no aid.” 

“ Pardon me, ma’am,” said Eli ; “but you can 
aid us if so be it seems good to you. That is, if 
you know how to load and prime a musquet. 

3°i 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


You can load tlie musquets as we fire them, and 
pass them up to us through the companion-way, 
if you wish.” 

“ Oh, Senor Humphrey, may I ? ” The light 
had danced back into her eyes by now, and 
though I felt there might be some risk in her 
exposing herself somewhat in passing us the 
musquets from below, I could not but grant 
her request. She seemed overjoyed and danced 
delightedly up and down, like a child, forsooth. 
“ Oh, I know how to load the musquets/’ she 
exclaimed — “ yes, and to discharge them, too, for 
my papa taught me when I was but a child. We 
were once besieged in our castle at Honda by 
a band of bandits, and all our family, as well as 
our retainers, had to serve watch and watch, 
until the soldiers came and drove the bandits 
away.” 

“ These pirates now approaching be worse 
than any Spanish bandits, I trow,” muttered 
old Eli. “ And they are getting too close for 
comfort, ma’am ; so please go below at once, and 

302 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


allow us free scope for the swing of our cutlasses. 
By my soul, but there may be no stemming 
the tide that is now rolling upon us. And 
they ’re no Dagoes this time, nor Dutchmen, but 
brother buccaneers, trained to arms and having 
no knowledge of wliat the word fear means, my 
children.” 

By now the uproar was terrific, for the bucca- 
neers had gained the lower decks and were surging 
toward the castle. Between us and the main 
body of the fighting multitude stood the captain 
and a choice few of his picked men, who had 
stood aloof as a reserve ; but even this party 
was now actively engaged, and every moment 
seeming to be on point of giving way before the 
onrush of the buccaneers. We on the castle 
could see but imperfectly, being now and again 
enveloped in the dense clouds of smoke that 
rolled athwart the decks and surged out to sea. 
Lurid flames, like lightning flashes, shot out 
from the clouds, and the belchings of cannon 
303 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


and musquetry were more terrific tlian any 
thunder that ever greeted human ears. 

With a farewell glance, in which her solici- 
tude was expressed most vividly, the senorita fled 
down the stairs and to the cabin, whence the 
senora from Peru was sending forth such piercing 
shrieks as to be heard above the din of battle. 
It was but a moment later that she reappeared, 
bearing in her arms a cuirass of leather and 
steel, which, without e’en asking permission, she 
proceeded to buckle upon me forthwith. 

I ventured a lame protest, feeling much 
abashed, but she placed a hand over my mouth. 
“ Nay, nay, brother mine, say not a word. This 
cuirass is for thy protection ; it may save thy life. 
And I have another which is for Senor Eli.” 
Saying which she disappeared, and eftsoon came 
forth with yet another breastplate, which she girded 
about the old buccaneer. Eli seemed to be well 
used to the breastplate, and welcomed it warmly, 
thanking the senorita for her thoughtfulness ; 
but my cuirass chafed me sorely, and but for 
304 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


appearing unthankful I should have doffed it 
eftsoon. But I had no time for thought of 
whether or no the armor chafed or fitted like a 
glove, for now the enemy were upon us. They 
had broken through the frail barrier opposed 
by the captain and his men, who had fallen or 
fled, so that nothing was left to prevent the 
storming of the castle. Loud were the yells of 
the infuriated buccaneers as they found their 
pathway to the castle open. They rushed for- 
ward like wolves on the scent of prey, and Eli 
shouted out to me : “ Boy, yon villains know we 
are here, mark my word ! When the Brethren 
stop not to cut the throats of wounded or knock 
them on the head, they have more important 
prey in view. Since they pass the Spaniards by, 
my boy, they must be on the trail of somebody 
they value more highly, eh ? ” I said nothing 
in reply, but knew in my heart that we were the 
quarry they were after, we and the women down 
below ; and to myself I could not but admit that 
their chances seemed good for the getting. It 
3°5 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


should not be alive, however — that was the resolve 
of both Eli and myself ; and we knew the senorita 
well enough to be assured that her sentiment was 
the same. In sooth, her last words to me buzzed in 
my ears like a swarm of bees, and nearly made 
me blind with the rush of blood to my brain, 
for these were the words she whispered after she 
had girded the cuirass on me : “ Brother, dear, 
do not let them capture me. I will not kill 
myself until the last moment ; but, oh, my 
dearest friend, the crowning act of your sur- 
passing goodness to me will be to kill me, rather 
than that I should be made a pirate’s captive.” 

Her hands were on my shoulders, her eyes 
lookingly pleadingly into mine, and what could I 
do but promise — promise, e’en though the thought 
of it was like death to me ! But we were in a 
forlorn hope, and though we were calm, it was 
with the calmness of despair. With a smile 
that she might have worn to meet a lover or 
mother, the senorita left us to assume her task of 
caring for the musquets, the which, as we 

306 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


emptied of their loads, we passed down to her — 
that is, when we had the time to do so ; but as 
the press came upon us there were moments when 
we could not e’en do this act, simple as it may 
seem. 

On came the buccaneers : those in front pressed 
forward by their companions behind and forced 
ahead, whether it were their will or no. These 
were easy marks for us, and we dropped them so 
fast, the one after the other, with the accurate 
aim of our musquets and the broadsides from 
our musketoons, that the survivors fain would 
have made halt for a parley, I ween. But those 
ahead could not stop unless it were to stumble 
and be trodden on by those in the rear, and 
when they did go down it was for aye, not to 
rise again. 

I did not like this sort of warfare, for it 
seemed too much like cold-blooded murder. Still, 
as Eli Herrick warned me when I allowed a 
fair shot to pass, and was the means of the object 
thereof, getting almost within arm’s-length of us, 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


it was either their lives or ours ; and more than 
the lives of the two of us — that also of the 
senorita and her chaperone. Eli put a bullet 
into the man I had spared, without any apparent 
compunction, and then urged me to be more 
mindful of my aim. I do not mean for it to be 
understood that we ourselves were not in peril from 
bullets, both of pistol and musquet, which came 
whizzing about like hornets arid smote every- 
thing about us, apparently, but fortunately 
missed their most important marks. The se- 
norita did her duty bravely and well, her white 
hand appearing with a loaded musquet whene’er 
there was need — which was full oft, in sooth. 
But the moment came when no one man or 
woman could load them fast enough — when they 
had perforce to be cast aside and the pistols 
snatched hastily, then the cutlasses. And, to 
speak the very truth, I was more than glad 
when it came to short-arm play with the blades ; 
for now it was man to man, the best one to win. 
The odds were greatly against us, at least a 
308 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


hundred to one, e’en after we had mowed down 
heaps of the enemy ; but what else was there to 
do than to stand and meet it ? Nothing, for- 
sooth — nothing but to prevail or to die — and 
well we knew it. Above the din of voices rose a 
shout that commanded our attention. It was 
from one who recognized us and fain would 
have a surrender. “We will spare you. 
Throw down your arms,” he said But we were 
not deceived, and still fought on. 

We would be spared, yes — but only for the 
torture. “ No surrender ! ” shouted Eli. “ No 
surrender, boy ! ” He might have spared his 
breath, for this was far from my thoughts then, 
if, in sooth, I had any thought. As at the time 
when assailed on board the “ Nancy ” I blindly 
parried cut and thrust, with no particular indi- 
vidual foe in my eye, only one gigantic demon 
at whom I used my whole endeavor. But out 
of the smoke and flame came to me a familiar 
voice, which, e’en in my madness, I recognized. 
It was that of old Jaques, who stumbled almost 
3°9 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


into my arms as I was hewing clown a composite 
giant who looked like a veritable demon. Eli 
did not hear, or, hearing, did not recognize the 
voice, and would have cut our old friend from 
chin to waist had I not interposed my blade at 
the instant. The diversion made Eli pause 
aghast, and, sweeping the foe in front of him 
with a glance — such as could be seen — he grasped 
the situation as a whole and executed a most 
masterly move. Seizing old Jaques by the legs, 
he hurled him down the companion-way, and 
then shouted in my ear : “ Back, Hump ! Get 
into the cabin ! It is our only hope ! ” 

Not less quickly than he I saw that this move- 
ment was our only salvation — if perchance there 
were any in store for us — and tumbled over him 
down the steps. A white hand reached out to 
me as I fell, and seizing it I took along with me 
our heroine, before she had a chance to utter 
e’en a protest. At the foot of the steps there 
we lay for the space of two full breaths, all in a 
heap. And it was a miracle that all of us were 


310 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


not cut by naked blades or crushed to pulp by 
the fall. But none was badly injured, and the 
first to extricate himself was Eli, who bethought 
himself of the hatch o’erhead, which he drew 
across the opening and secured with its massive 
bolts before the raging buccaneers above had 
hardly missed us. This act gave us a few mo- 
ments’ respite, which we improved in untangling 
the snarl and planning what we should do next. 
I had bethought me, despite the swiftness of 
our descent, to try to break the force of the fall 
for the senorita, and she was apparently unin- 
jured ; at least she declared herself unhurt, 
though her face paled and she gasped for breath 
as if in pain. I assisted her to a seat, first of 
all, and when she had regained her composure 
we held the council of war. 

Old Jaques was the first to speak ; that is, if 
I except the senora from Peru, who was still 
lifting up her voice, though now faint from con- 
tinuous shouting. We pacified her as best we 
could, the senorita whispering words of encourage- 

20— For Prey and Spoils. i jj 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


ment and patting lier hands the while we held 
the council. 

“Ze firs’ sing” (thing), said old Jaques, “ees 
to get out of here.” 

“ Seems to me,” retorted Eli, who was nursing 
a bad bruise on his chin and gazing ruefully 
at his wooden leg — “ the fust thing was to get in 
here. Now, how in the name of goldarnation 
air we going to get out? But I agree with 
Jaques, we ’ve got to git out before them divels 
up above get in.” 

The senora ceased her wailing for a moment 
and said something to our senorita, who beckoned 
to me. As I sat down beside her she said : 
“ The senora tells me the cabin windows are not 
far above the water, and that there is a boat be- 
neath them — or there was not many hours ago 
— and she suggests an escape that way.” 

“ That ’s good as far as it goes,” said Eli, 
“and I guess it ’s the only plan open to us — pro- 
vided it is open. But, please, tell her that we 
can’t do anything if she’s going to keep up 

312 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


that everlasting yowling. She s either got to 
stop or else we go without her. That ’s gospel 
truth.” 

The senorita whispered in her friend’s ear, 
and the “ yowling” was heard no more. The 
Peruvian lady was beside herself with terror, 
poor thing ; but, when she saw she was among 
friends, and that her only chance for life lay in 
doing just as we advised, she became sane again 
and proved amenable to reason. 

“ The poor critter ’s scart ’enamost to death,” 
said Eli, apologetically * “ and we can’t blame 
her much, either. Howsomever, her hint ’s a 
good one, and the fust thing to do — and that 
mighty lively, too — is to find that air boat.” 

The cabin of the galleon was large and occu- 
pied the entire stern of the ship, with great win- 
dow-like portholes. Groping his way to one of 
these windows — for the cabin was but dimly 
lighted — Jaques peered out and downward, a 
moment later signifying by violent gesticulations 
that a boat was still there. 

3 X 3 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Well,” said Eli, “ don’t make a monkey of 
yourself, old man. Take this rope ladder and 
hang it out the winder. It ’ll reach the boat 
all right, for that ’s what it ’s here for. Now, 
jest you shin down that air ladder and hold it 
stiddy while we pass down the ladies. Hump, 
you take charge of the gal and I ’ll look out for 
her chappyrone. There ain’t no time to lose, 
I need n’t remind you folks. I can hear our 
friends a-liewing that air hatch to pieces, and 
it ’s about an even chance if we don’t get caught. 
Grab that jug of wine, Hump, and I’ll chuck in 
a bag of bread. There ’s likely to be a water- 
cask in the* boat ; anyway, we ’ye got to chance 
it. Them musquets served us a good turn, so 
let ’s take ’em along, and some powder and ball, 
too ; for Lord knows where we ’re going and 
what we ’re going to find. Like ’s not we 
shall strike the little end of nowhere and find 
next to nothing when we get there.” 

While indulging in this monologue Eli was 
darting this way and that, seizing upon things 
3 X 4 


A FIGHT TO THE FINISH 


he thought we might need on the trip, and inter- 
larding his talk with curses upon the bad luck 
that had caused a bullet to splinter the end of 
his wooden leg, so that he had hard work to keep 
his balance. But at last we were all in the boat, 
the senora behaving like a lamb, and our seiiorita 
proving a veritable angel of helpfulness. We 
pushed off quiety, but quickly, for the bucca- 
neers had smashed in the hatch as Eli — the last 
to get aboard — had dropped into the boat, and it 
would not take them long to discover the means 
we had employed for escaping and the direction 
we had taken. 

31S 






CHAPTER XXII 


THE REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 

T HE smoke was so thick about the galleon 
that for a brief space it gave us shelter; 
but the glare of the burning ships soon 
lit up the sea, and it was not long that we could 
avail of the friendly darkness. Immediately 
our boat came out into the light it was the target 
of many a musquet, the balls from which 
splashed the sea around the boat, pattered against 
the gunwales, and a few whistled past close to our 
ears. One bullet, in sooth, struck the breast- 
plate of my cuirass with such force that, had I 
not had it on, I should certainly have received a 
severe wound, perchance a fatal one. Picking 
up the spent bullet, which dropped to the bottom 
of the boat, I showed it to the senorita, at the 
317 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


same time telling her that. I probably owed my 
life to her thoughtfulness in providing me with 
the coat of mail. She smiled thereat, and said 
significantly that, judging from the appearance 
of the cuirass, that bullet was not the first one 
it had stopped. And certes, when I came to 
examine it closely, I found the marks made by 
near a dozen bullets, some of which had surely 
passed through my body had I not been so well 
protected. Eli’s breastplate, also, bore many 
indentations, showing indubitably how fiercely 
we had been assailed and of what service our good 
armor had been to us. For which we duly 
thanked the senorita, who blushed so prettily 
that one might have thought her discovered in a 
fault, instead of doing a kindness to her friends. 

It was by the grace of God, indeed, that we 
had not been killed, so great had been the odds 
against us ; but we were spared to come out of 
the fight practically unscathed. And, moreover, 
though our boat became the target for a still 
brisker fire of musquetry, we passed through the 
318 





For Prey and Spoils — 7. 

“ THE INDIANS 


LET FLY A CLOUD 


OF ARROWS. 

See p. 321. 










































































































































REVENGE OF THE LAKE- DWELLERS 


fiery furnace uninjured in the least, butnot,it must 
be confessed without some trepidation on the 
part of the ladies. Eli, Jaques and myself were 
all too busy at the oars and at the helm to pay 
much attention to aught else than the steering 
clear of the enemy. For by now all the buc- 
caneers had closed in about the burning ships, 
like ravening wolves around a deer wounded to 
the death, yet which was still at bay and had 
some fight left in him. The most of them were 
far too busily engaged in watching their chances 
for boarding the Spaniards, in cutting off the 
fleeing crews, shooting the poor wretches in the 
water as they cast themselves from their flaming 
vessels into the sea — to search beyond the wall 
of fire for other possible prey. So we slipped 
past the last ship of the cordon and headed for 
the shore of the lake nearest to us then, which 
was the western shore, where, Eli said, was 
safety, could we but gain the landing-place. 

“ There is a colony of Lake-dwelling Indians 
thereabouts,” said Eli, “who have their huts over 
3 T 9 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 

V 

the water and are friendly to the Spaniards, but 
, not to the buccaneers. If we can but make 
their settlement, methinks we are safe ; and, 
moreover, if I can but find my old friend, the 
chief of the Lake-dwellers, I trow we shall eke 
wreak our revenge, for though these Indians are 
generally men of peace and prone to hold aloof 
from war, at the same time they are most valiant 
fighters when their blood is up. Trust me to 
do all possible to get it up, and have it stay 
there until we have ’enamost repaired our 
losses.” 

Knowing well the lay of the land, dark 
though it was beyond the wall of fire, Eli soon 
proved the verity of his assertion, for after we 
had rowed for little more than an hour we came 
suddenly upon the colony he spake of. Simul- 
taneously with our arrival within sight of the 
settlement, as the huts rose ghost-like from the 
water, there was a great noise as if the heavens 
were rended. Looking fearsomely back, we saw 
vast sheets of flame shooting skyward, and knew 
320 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


at once that some of the ships’ powder magazines 
had been blown up. The glare from the flames 
was such that, though we were full three miles 
from the ships, the lake on every side of us was 
illumined as by the sun at noonday, and revealed 
our boat to the Indians, who, some with musquets 
and others with bows and arrows, were watching 
from the platforms of their huts. Excited as 
they were by the vast noise of the battle and the 
sight of blazing ships, the Indians were on the 
alert, and at first glimpse of us let fly a cloud 
of arrows and shot off their musquets. For- 
tunately for us, their aim was bad, though their 
intentions were good — that is, to shoot us. But 
we got within hail, and, by the greatest good 
fortune, Eli’s old friend the chief being one of 
the party on the platform that had saluted us so 
rudely, we were soon at parley with the red- 
skinned salvages. At first, to be sure, the chief 
was loath to allow us to come near the settle- 
ment ; but finally Eli convinced him we were 
friends, and at last he recognized the voice of 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


liis erstwhile acquaintance ; though it had been 
years since last they met. Then he allowed us 
to row up to the hut, on the platform of which 
he and his crew were perched, and saluted us with 
a guttural grunt of satisfaction which he no doubt 
intended for a welcome. 

Arrived at the hut, we found no means of in- 
gress save a pole or trunk of a small tree, notched 
with holes for the placing of the feet, like a 
rude ladder such as is used in the mines of 
Mexico and of Peru. This pole was slippery 
from being long in the water, and as no one but 
a barefooted Indian could climb it with any 
degree of skill, we had great difficulty in ascend- 
ing to the hut’s platform, even after our boat 
was drawn alongside and made fast. 

But the Indian chief reached down a hand 
for the ladies to take hold of, and while Eli and 
old Jaques held the boat firm I helped the senora 
and the senorita to climb the precarious ladder. 
The huts, as I have said, were built on plat-? 
forms of poles over water that was about tliigli- 

322 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


deep, and there was no land nearer than the shore 
of the lake, half a mile or more distant, except a 
small garden spot that was made by enclosing a 
space with logs and filling it with earth, and this 
was about twenty yards square — a fragment of 
earth like an island rescued from the waters of 
the lake. 

Haying helped us up to the platform, the 
chief stood aside and motioned us to enter the 
hut, which was made entirely of thatch of palm 
leaves, sides and roof, and with a layer of small 
poles for a floor. We could look through the 
cracks between the poles arid see the water of the 
lake beneath the hut, which gave us at first a 
feeling of insecurity, though in reality the floor 
was strong enough. In the centre of the hut 
was a space covered with beaten clay, and here 
a fire was smouldering, with a huge iron pot 
above it containing a medley stew of some sort 
for the Indians’ delectation. Hammocks were 
swung from each corner of the hut, and in these, 
at the Indian’s motion, we half sat, half reclined, 
3 2 3 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


while his wives prepared for us some refresh- 
ment. 

Although this chief of the Lake-dwellers 
possessed the impassive exterior of the Indians 
in general — that is, he was stolid and usually 
slow of speech — there seemed to be something 
on his mind he would fain have relieved, and he 
soon evinced a great curiosity as to the fight that 
was going on between the pirates and the Span- 
iards. We told him all we knew, Eli, as usual, 
acting as spokesman, and as we proceeded with 
our narration, detailing to him the cruelties of 
the buccaneers and the relation in which we 
stood to them, as well as the danger to us of 
ever allowing them to get us again into their 
clutches, his swarthy countenance became livid 
with suppressed rage or other excitement akin to 
that passion. He said little, but after we had 
concluded (the repast his women had been pre- 
paring being now ready), he motioned us to 
partake, and then, begging us to excuse him, 
backed out of the open doorway, and, sliding 
3 2 4 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


down the notched pole to the water, entered a 
canoe dug from out a log, and disappeared in 
the darkness. 

“ Wonder what he ’s up to ? ” said Eli, with 
an air of mystery, nodding his head toward the 
door through which the chief had disappeared. 
“ Something or other disturbed him powerfully. 
Should n’t wonder but he ’s off to call a gather- 
ing of the tribe. P’raps he scents plunder off 
there in the lake and is going to try to get his 
share of it. If that ’s so don’t blame him a 
bit, I yum. 

“But here ’s the vittels. In that air pot there s 
a stew made of all sorts of veg’tables, with a bit 
of meat here and there, and that other thing 
that looks something like a turtle, only longer ’n 
he is broad, is an armadiller, what they call here 
a ‘ cachicama.’ And it s good, too ; so, ladies, 
you ’d better take some of the armadiller, if you 
want to be interduced to the sweetest meat in 
the world. The varmint ’s cooked in his own 
shell — that ’s what makes him look so queer. 

3 2 5 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


But don’t be afraid, for tlie meat ’s tender and 
wholesome.” 

The ladies needed considerable urging to 
induce them to partake of the armadillo ; and I 
myself will confess to some qualms at the pros- 
pect of eating thereof — for I had never before 
seen the creature, either live or dead, though I 
was told it inhabited the isle of Tortuga, where 
it was so prized, however, as a delicacy, that 
none but the chiefs of the buccaneers were 
allowed to eat of it. But we were all nearly 
famished, and, notwithstanding the repulsive 
appearance of the big and black iron pot (which 
looked as if it might have arrived with that 
doughty explorer, Americus de Vespucci, who 
first discovered these Lake-dwellers, and had 
been in service almost ever since without cleans- 
ing), we overcame our repugnance and ate of the 
meal prepared by the Indian women with some- 
what even of gusto. After it was over the Indian 
women passed around dried leaves of the weed 
known as tobacco, and, all the men save myself 
326 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


producing their pipes, and filling them up, soon 
wreaths of fragrant smoke were passing through 
the thatch of the roof. The ladies lay back in 
their hammocks, and, overcome with fatigue and 
the exciting scenes they had passed through, 
eftsoon fell into slumber, seeing which we men 
were glad, for they needed such refreshment full 
sore. 

Eli and Jaques and myself were prone to 
sleep, but we dared not, for at any moment the 
chief might return, and we all agreed that it 
was incumbent upon us to be vigilant, even 
though we had no good known cause to distrust 
the people whose hospitality we had sought. 

“ This is a good time,” remarked Eli, between 
the puffing at his pipe and the exhaling from 
his mouth of the smoke produced therefrom, 
“ a good time, friend Jaques, for you to give us 
a short account of what happened while you 
were away, and Hump and I were left behind in 
Porto Bello.” 

“ Certainement ,” answered Jaques, “ but zey 

21 — For Prey and Spoils. -227 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


was so mooch happen zat it to take me all ze 
remainclair of ze night to remark it, frien’ Eli.” 

“ That may be,” rejoined Eli, “ but you can’t 
have so much time as that. Cut your speech as 
short as you can ; make your lingo straight as 
you can, with all the English you can remem- 
ber and as little French as possible, and heave 
ahead.” 

And this is the gist of the story — not in poor 
old Jaques’ “lingo” — for it would take too long 
in the telling — but as rendered into English by 
the reader’s friend and humble servant, Hum- 
phrey Gilbert, none other than the writer of 
these adventures. It seems that after the fort 
had been stormed and the garrison put to the 
sword — (and as well all the inoffensive inhabit- 
ants of Porto Bello, including the maidens who 
had assisted so unwillingly in the scaling of the 
walls) — the pirates sacked the city of all the 
remaining valuables they could find and hastily 
departed. They at first, to be sure, essayed the 
capture of the church in which we had taken 
328 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


refuge, and — as the reader will recall — set fire 
to the roof, and, as they thought, utterly de- 
stroyed us. This was done at Morgan's insti- 
gation and against the inclination of Mansvelt, 
who would fain have sailed away and left us to 
such fate as we might find. 

This last act but added fuel to the flame of 
hatred for each other that raged in their hearts, 
and when the fleet was well clear of the harbor 
of Porto Bello they could contain themselves no 
longer. Just which one began the quarrel old 
Jaques could not tell, being engaged in his duties, 
and, as a common sailor, not having cognizance 
of what was going on in the castle and the 
cabin. But it was told him by one of the men 
who was engaged in waiting on the chiefs that 
Morgan, being in the cabin with Mansvelt, be- 
gan to reproach him with having encouraged 
me in the matter of the fight when I came near 
to causing his death by strangulation. He said 
that he would yet have my blood and put me to 
the torture ; but Mansvelt taunted him with my 
3 2 9 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


probable escape and reminded him that he had 
yet to catch me first. At which Morgan swore 
a most fearful oath that he would surely catch 
me, were I still alive, and make such an example 
of me that my end should be a warning to all 
buccaneers who dared disobey, and particularly 
maltreat their superiors. 

Mansvelt then reminded Morgan that there 
were two meanings to the word “ superior, 1 ” and 
again taunted his lieutenant with being by far 
my inferior when it came to matters to be settled 
by sword or feat of arms. At this, said old 
Jaques, Morgan became beside himself with rage, 
and made as if to draw his sword and cut down 
Mansvelt on the spot. In sooth, he did so, for 
the latter, seeing what was coming, made haste to 
draw his own weapon from the scabbard and de- 
fend himself. But before he could do so Morgan 
ran him through the heart, and he fell forward 
across the table which was between them, and 
died before any one could raise him up. 

And thus it was that, though indirectly (as I 
330 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


have said nearer the beginning of these adven- 
tures), I, Humphrey Gilbert, was the cause of 
Mansvelt’s death by sword in the hand of our 
arch enemy, Henry Morgan. There was no 
mystery about Mansvelt’s death (as certain who 
have made mention of it would have appear), 
but it was the result of a feud between him and 
Morgan, and came about in a manner very 
natural to one engaged in his nefarious calling. 

I cannot but confess to a feeling of horror at 
the occurrence, and — though may God forgive 
me for questioning his decrees — it would have 
been in a measure gratifying had I but learned 
that it was Morgan who had fallen and not 
Mansvelt. 

Immediately after the occurrence Morgan 
gave orders to throw the body of the late admiral 

overboard, after which he called the men aft and 
announced from the castle poop that he was 
now the admiral of the fleet, and they were to 
obey his orders. They, of course, said nothing, 
though many of them were sullen enough, in 
33i 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


sooth ; for, as compared with their present com- 
mander, Mansvelt was tender and compassionate. 
But might makes right with the buccaneers, and, 
as Morgan had the command, they could not but 
fain obey him. His first command was to about 
ship and seek out Maracaibo, for he had long 
had the sacking of this rich city in mind, re- 
membering the spoils that Lolonois gained there- 
from in his raid of years before. 

Arrived at Maracaibo, the buccaneers had ex- 
ceeded even the cruelties of Lolonois, for they 
put all the leading citizens whom they could 
capture to the torture; they burst out their 
brains by twisting cords about their heads; had 
boiled some of them in oil ; had tortured some 
others by the rack — in fact, had used all their 
divelish ingenuity for the purpose of compelling 
the people of Maracaibo to reveal the hiding- 
places of their treasures. They had been so far 
successful in this that Morgan was enriched by 
millions of pounds’ worth of treasure, and, just 
as the Spanish fleet appeared, he was about de- 
332 


REVENGE OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS 


parting for Tortuga with it all. Fortune had 
favored him, together with the using of the fire- 
raft, and the rest we knew. 

Old Jaques had only just concluded his nar- 
ration by the break of dawn, and, ere he had 
ended, the Indian chief had slipped quietly in 
and requested him to tell it in Spanish that he 
might understand it. This Jaques did, and, as 
he concluded, the chief broke forth : “ Some of 
my people were in Maracaibo and were tortured, 
too, and it is for the sake of them that I now 
demand revenge ! ” 

333 










































































































































































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CHAPTER XXIII 


WHAT BEFELL THE MURDEROUS BUCCANEERS 

T HE words of the chief startled us some- 
what, despite the already harrowing 
scenes we had passed through of late, but 
his swarthy face, with its deep-set eyes gleaming 
like coals of fire in the light of the coming 
dawn, was yet more startling. We looked at 
him in some wonder, but no man durst ask him 
what he meant. At last he spoke, in explanation 
of his meaning. 

“ Ye know/’ he said, “ that some of my people 
were done to death by torture there in Mara- 
caibo, whither they had gone on a peaceful 
mission. For we are people of peace and raise 
our hands against no man unless first he setteth 
upon us with bad intent. Then we strike and 

335 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


have no mercy; for though we are people of 
peace, and full many a century have dwelt here 
above the water, in order that we might trespass 
upon no man’s territory, and might live un- 
molested with our wives and children, yet we 
are strong and revengeful. Listen now, men 
who have come here across the sea — ye came to 
me and I received you gladly, because were ye 
not my friends ? Yea, and with the old man, 
the Norte Americano, I have had blood friend- 
ship these many moons. Now, listen, yet again 
to what I say : I have been around to all the 
dwellings within my colony, and I have warned 
all the strong men and the sturdy women to 
prepare themselves to assail those bloody buc- 
aniers this coming night. Ah, ye start, ye are 
amazed, to think that my people dare thus. Is 
it not so ? Yea, but believe me, we will prevail 
over those men of blood, and, moreover, ye shall 
sail away in their own vessel, even the galleon 
that, as you say, they have taken from the 
Spaniard. I and my people have no love for 
336 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


the Spaniards ; but at least they have not 
molested us for many years ; while the bucaniers 
have applied the torture ; they have killed some 
of my tribe. On their heads be the blood they 
have shed, and with interest manifold. I have 
done.” 

And of a truth he had, as he said, done speak- 
ing, for we could get no word from him there- 
after for many an hour. He had wrought him- 
self up to the fury of speech, as it were, which 
with such a nature as his required great effort, 
and having delivered himself he closed his 
mouth and remained silent, because, forsooth, 
he had nothing more to say. But he replied to 
our questions, though in monosyllables only and 
reluctantly. 

During the ensuing day there was great stir 
among the Lake-Dwellers. The huts swarmed 
forth Indians big and small, like the pouring 
out of bees from a hive, and there was such a 
gathering of canoes hollowed out from trees as 
never in the world was the like seen before, I 


337 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


ween. Within the huts there was a sharpening 
of weapons — of rusty swords that had been 
brought to this country by the first conquist- 
adores ; of spears with triangular heads, of 
arrows made of fish-bones and others with 
obsidian points ; all which were poisoned with 
the wurrari from the interior of Guiana where 
the Carib Indians dwell. This poison is a 
deadly one, and once entereth it into the veins 
of a man nothing on earth can save him from 
the terrible death that followetli hard after the 
wounding with one of these arrows. 

Through the long, hot day there went on great 
preparation, and as the shadows lengthened along 
the lake, and the sun dipped toward the horizon, 
all the Indians dwelling here seemed to be ready 
for the fray. Ready, yea, and desperately eager, 
withal. 

The women and girls among the Indians had 
been as busy as the men, getting ready store of 
provisions, of the which all partook with avidity, 
especially of their fermented beer, which they 
338 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


said would give them great strength for the space 
of the twenty-four hours next ensuing. Acting 
upon the advice of the chief, we too partook of 
food and drink, and slept through the heated 
portion of the day, and by night were refreshed 
and strengthened. It was a sight the like of 
which never had I looked upon before — that 
gathering together of the canoes, each canoe 
filled with red warriors, naked to the waist, 
painted in stripes of yellow and black and ver- 
milion, with an effect of hideous oramentation. 
They seemed more as divels than as men, and 
for the time being perhaps they may be so 
called, for they all were in a state of suppressed 
phrenzy that showed in their excited gestures, in 
their hoarse, guttural cries, and above all in their 
gleaming eyes. Perhaps there were half a 
thousand of them there assembled, and it was 
with no small degree of pride that the chief 
regarded his children — as he called the warriors. 
He turned to us for approval, and we gave him 
praise without stint ; but still we could not but 
339 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


feel that even this large number of half-naked 
warriors was insufficient to encompass our 
designs and wrest from the buccaneers their 
ships, or at least one of them. 

We would fain have left the ladies here in the 
hut to rest, the while we were engaged in the 
expedition ; but not only was the chief averse 
to our doing so, explaining that his entire settle- 
ment, including even all the women and children, 
would accompany the war canoes, leaving the 
colony without an inhabitant, but the ladies 
themselves entered energetic protest. So, per- 
force, they went along, though at the rear end 
of the procession, and in a boat with some of the 
Indian women and children. It was in accord with 
the plan of the chief that all this was arranged, 
and more wise arrangement could not have been 
made — as the sequel proved, and shortly, too. 
Night fell, at last, and, moving with the pre- 
cision of a fleet that had been drilled by the 
best of British admirals, the flotilla started for 
the scene of operations. All through the day a 
340 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


pillar of smoke had proclaimed the location of the 
ships, and the Indian scouts sent out by the 
chief had from time to time made us aware of 
the buccaneer’s movements. In the main, the 
scouts reported, they had remained just where 
they had gained the victory of the night before, 
repairing damages and sacking the dismantled 
galleons. They had also been engaged in more 
bloody work than that — some of them having 
hung and quartered and tossed overboard for the 
sharks to eat many of the hapless prisoners. We 
learned, amongst other things, that the buc- 
caneers who had taken the galleon we had 
escaped from had hung the rudder, extinguished 
the flames of the night before, and prepared the 
ship for a voyage. Also, that all, or nearly all, 
the Maracaibo treasure had been taken to the 
galleon, which, together with that she held 
before, would make a pretty prize for whomso- 
ever might recapture her. When this was 
explained to the chief, he said he would concen- 
trate all his efforts upon the galleon, and once 
34i 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


in liis possession she should be turned over to us, 
to go whithersoever we cared, and so long as he 
and his men had their revenge they would ask 
for nothing more, only the small boats, the sur- 
plus guns, swords, cutlasses, etc., which we might 
perchance take from the enemy. He had the 
whole affair so well planned that we could not 
but wonder, and he felt so positive of victory 
that we could not feel otherwise than confident 
ourselves. 

Thus it was with the feeling that our battle 
was already half won that we set forth for the 
fleet. In short, we arrived in its vicinity about 
an hour before midnight. Silently, in accord- 
ance with the orders previously issued by the 
chief, the war canoes formed a double circle 
around the galleon, which we had singled out for 
attack. Smaller and smaller grew the circle, 
nearer and nearer drew we to the ship, until the 
canoes formed almost a solid wall about her. In 
fact, so well had the plan been made that they 
enclosed the galleon as with a floating wall of 
342 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


hollow logs or trees, but all these logs were 
swarming with red Indians, ready at the word to 
leap up the sides of the ship and upon her deck. 

Suddenly, without a warning, there darted 
from out the portholes of the ship a circling 
sheet of flame, and the water just beyond the 
canoes was churned into whirlpools and cataracts 
of foam, where the iron missiles intended for us 
had struck. The chief chuckled, in his peculiar 
guttural, for what had happened was just as he 
had expected and prepared for. That is, he had 
allowed the canoes to be discovered at the 
moment he intended, and no sooner. Then, as 
they were so near that the guns on sh^board 
could not be sufficiently depressed to hit them 
with their missiles, we had really drawn the fire 
of the enemy without encountering any harm. 

At the low-spoken word of command, up 
leaped the Indians, attacking the sides of the 
ship, to which they clung like barnacles, and 
entering the portholes, as well as swarming over 
the bulwarks. There were so many of them 

22 — For Prey and Spoils. 7. A T. 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


tliat the buccaneers were actually overwhelmed, 
and though they stood to their arms like the 
brave men they really were, and fought to the 
last gasp, each man of them, it was all of no 
avail. The fight was short but fierce. I will not 
enter into the details of it ; suffice that at last 
there came an end to it, and we remained masters 
of the ship. Of the buccaneers, some of them 
formerly our comrades, there was no man left alive 
on the ship, for the chief of the Lake-Dwellers 
heeded not our entreaties to be merciful, and 
either killed all he and his men encountered or 
drove them into the sea. It was all done so 
quickly that, almost before we were well 
aware of the fact, the decks were cleared and 
the Indians were victorious. No credit to Eli, 
Jaques and myself, either, for though we were 
all three burning to take part, the Indians were 
ahead of us, and that night taught us a lesson in 
the art of war. I never before saw a ships deck 
so quickly cleared of all living opponents, nor so 
thickly strewn with dead and wounded men 
344 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


silently dispatched. Our red allies uttered 
hardly a sound, except to grunt as they sent 
home their thrusts of spear or shot a poisoned 
arrow to its mark. Not many of them were 
killed, either, so fierce and rapid was their 
onslaught ; but of the enemy more were laid 
low than I care to think about. Still, they had 
brought their fate upon themselves, and deserved 
no other. 

When all was over, the chief sent back a 
scout canoe to carry the tidings to the women, 
who were lingering behind at an appointed ren- 
dezvous, and in an hour or so they came up, 
silently and swiftly, each canoe paddled by a 
brawny female ; and they, too, as their fathers, 
brothers and husbands had done but a little 
while before, swarmed upon the ship and scat- 
tered all over it in search of spoil. A hundred 
lights gleamed here and there — on deck, in the 
cabin and forecastle and in the hold — and in a 
short time the busy people were collected at the 
bulwarks, each man, woman and child laden 
345 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


with what seemed in their sight most valuable. 
Clothing and trinkets, jewelry, and especially 
swords, cutlasses, musquets, arquebuses and pis- 
tols, were the articles they prized most; but 
though we directed their attention to the bags 
and boxes of silver, tons of which, seemingly, 
were stored in the hold and in the treasure tanks, 
they would have none of it. 

“ No, no,” said the old chief, as we told him 
to reward himself and his people for their work. 
“ No, no ; we no want silver. We have had re- 
venge ; that is enough. Take the ship and its 
treasure and swiftly make away. Already the 
pirate chief and his men are awake, and soon 
they will be here, unless ye sail quickly out of 
the lake into the open sea. Even then he will 
be at your heels. I have detailed twelve of my 
men to go with ye. They are good sailors; they 
know how to manage a galleon like this. They 
want to see the world. Take them with ye ; 
but some time send them back safe and sound. 
Already they are at their posts ; some have cut 
346 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


the cable, some are loosing the sails. Adieu, 
amigos; we thank ye for helping us to take our 
revenge ! ” 

As he concluded this extraordinary speech 
he uttered a word of command, and over the 
ship’s sides slid his people, laden as they were, 
dropping into their canoes like machines, so per- 
fectly did they obey him and so smoothly did 
they work. Before we had scarce time to thank 
him for his aid he himself had leaped the bul- 
wark and was off, leaving us staring at each other 
in amaze. 

“ By gum ! ” said Eli, rubbing his eyes with 
the back of one hand, “ain’t he a nectarino? 
With a few men like him, Hump, my hearty, 
we could sweep the Caribbean Sea and have the 
commerce of nations at our mercy. He ought 
to be a buccaneer, and, if he only knew his power, 
methinks he would become a leader of the Breth- 
ren. Say you not so ? ” 

“ Perchance,” I answered, dreamily, myself 
somewhat dazed by events which had succeeded 
347 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


in such swift succession. “ But it is well he does 
not care to be more than he is : a mere leader 
of red men and chief of his little colony. Let 
us haste to assure ourselves that our ladies are 
safe and then speed away, as he cautioned us, for 
the open sea.” 

I found the senorita and the senora safe in 
the great cabin, where they had been placed 
by the Indian women who had them in charge, 
and watched over by a comely maiden, tawny- 
liued as to complexion, with lips red as pome- 
granates and eyes like those of a fawn. The 
welcome they gave me was more than warm, 
judged by the cold standard of my countrymen, 
for they had scarcely seen us since we left the 
Lake-Dwellers’ settlement, and knew not whether 
we were alive or dead. Both the senora and 
the senorita threw themselves into my arms, and 
laughed and cried, so that I knew not what to 
do. 

What could I do, forsooth, but endure their 
embraces like a stoic ; though far from feeling 

348 


WHAT BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


like one, I ween, with tears of joy gathering in 
my eyes and my heart beating hard at the thought 
of being the recipient of such a greeting. They 
seemed to regard me as the hero of the occasion ; 
though, in sooth, I could not allow them to re- 
main in that opinion, but as soon as possible 
informed them of our common indebtedness to 
the Indian chief. I felt constrained, also, to tell 
them of the necessity for immediate action, if 
we were to escape the clutches of Morgan and 
the other buccaneers, since there was a great stir 
on their ships, and no doubt they were already 
preparing to pursue us. 

They promptly released me at this, though the 
seilorita seemed loath to allow me to go again on 
deck ; saying no word, indeed, but regarding me 
most pleadingly with her shining eyes. Eli 
and old Jaques had retired at the first onslaught, 
deeming discretion the better part of valor, per- 
haps, and I found them awaiting me on deck. 
Methought they might taunt me, perchance, and 
I was steeling myself to meet them manfully; 

349 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


but the only sentence uttered was by Eli, and 
that was enigmatical. “Ah,” he said, with a 
sigh that seemed to me not feigned, “ah, it is a 
royal thing to be young. Nobody cares for you 
and me, Jaques ; we ’re old.” 

“ Oui ,” answered Jaques, sadly; “ but we can- 
not be young two times” — meaning a second 
time. 

No more words were passed, for action, not 
speech, was now demanded of us. The galleon 
was now, thanks to the able manner in which the 
Indians handled her, ploughing through the 
water gallantly. The buccaneers had evidently 
made all necessary repairs and everything was 
shipshape, save that the decks were encumbered 
with such dead bodies of the foe as the Indians 
had not thrown overboard. There was nothing 
to do but cast those that remained after the others, 
and this occupation kept us busy for a while. 

The night was pitchy dark, but the Indians 
evidently understood the course to take, being 
water-born and in their native element. And 
35o 


WHAT .BEFELL THE BUCCANEERS 


well it was, for not a long time passed ere the 
bustle on tlie buccaneers’ ships increased to a 
roar; out of the darkness flashed the flame from 
a gun, and a cannon ball came skipping along 
in our wake. It was well aimed, but fell short ; 
though not so another that was sent right after 
it, which passed through the cabin windows with 
a great noise of smashing glass and buried itself 
in one of the stanchions. 

Shrieks from below informed us that the 
ladies were awake to their peril ; but what could 
we do but keep right on, trusting to luck and 
our good ship’s speed for escape ? Nothing, in 
sooth ; but still we were not inactive. Jaques 
and Eli, finding the Long Tom — as the cannon 
mounted on the castle aft was called — to be 
loaded, aimed it carefully at the point where 
the last flash had appeared and applied the 
match. 


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CHAPTER XXIV 


BETTER TO DIE A-FIGHTING THAN BE HANGED 

W HEN the Long Tom roared out its salute 
to the buccaneer ships certes there was 
a disturbance in their direction, for 
the ball that sped their way raked one of them 
fore and aft. This circumstance did not, how- 
ever, deter them from following after us, and 
soon we led the van of as pretty a flock of sea- 
birds as the stars of night e’er shone upon. We 
led the van, say I, but not by a distance so great 
as to give us much comfort. 

Our Indian sailors ran over the ship and 
scampered up and down the rigging like mon- 
keys, or rather like good-natured demons, and 
were the best seafarers we had ever known. 
“ By my sooth,” said Eli to old Jaques, and with 
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FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


me a-standing by, “ by my sooth, but these red 
sal vages surpass by far any lubber of a buccaneer 
my eyes e’er sat upon. I ’gin to hope we may 
yet escape, my friends.” 

“ Oui , oui,” assented old Jaques, readily, “zey 
is ze diable pour zis work. Eef we make ze 
aiscape it will be onlee by ze aid of ze sauvages, 
pour ze sheep (ship) she ees no so mooch tastair 
zan ze boucanier.” 

“ Fact, for true,” muttered Eli, shifting his 
glance astern and then aloft at our bellying sails. 
“ Seems t’ me if we can’t give ’em the slip, some- 
how, we ’re goners, sure ’s preaching, for we can’t 
possibly beat ’em by straight sailing. That ’s 
plain ’s the nose on my face. Here, you ! ” he 
called out to the head man of the Lake-Dwellers, 
as he darted by on the run. Then he put the 
question to him * " Is there a side channel we 
can slip into and baffle our pursuers?” Rather, 
he uttered it not aloud, but by dumb show made 
.the salvage understand his meaning, by merely 
jerking his thumb over his shoulder and wig- 
354 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


wagging his head. The Indian understood him 
well, and at once spread out his hand deprecat- 
ingly, as if to say there was none such. Then 
he swept the sea with a comprehensive wave of 
his arms, to indicate that the chase was to be a 
stern chase and to the bitter end. Then he 
placed both his hands on Eli’s shoulders, and, 
wheeling him about — for he was at that' time 
looking forward — conducted him to the big gun, 
patted it approvingly and pointed at the lights 
of our pursuers, shining through the gloom of 
night. Having done all this, he smiled mean- 
ingly into the old buccaneer’s eyes, turned on 
his naked heel and disappeared. It was all done 
like a flash, or like a succession of flashes, and 
without uttering a word ; but we understood. 

“ By the big horn spoon ! ” ejaculated Eli, 
admiringly. “Ain’t he jest the all-firedest skip- 
per that you ever see ? He did n’t lose a second, 
did he ? But he showed us as plain as daylight 
that there wa’ n’t nothing to do but draw a 
straight streak for Tortuga, and that while he 
355 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


and his men sailed the ship we must defend 
it.” 

“And we will, too, by the jumping, green-eyed 
grasshopper! What we here for but to fight, 
I ’d like to know? What else can we do but 
fight ? Nothing, and we know it. But it ’s a 
blamed sight better for us to die a-figliting than 
be hanged at the yardarm, ain’t it? For that ’s 
jest what it amounts to if we ’re taken, sure ’s 
preaching. That is, if there ’s anything left of 
us after they ’ye done with the torture — the 
rack and the thumb-screws, the slow fire, the 
pine splinters, and such like. ’T ain’t nice to 
think of, but that ’s jest what awaits us if we al- 
low ourselves to be took.” 

“ Yer well ; zen we not allow it, non” said 
Jaques, nodding his head emphatically. 

“ We may be taken,” I added, “ but not 
alive.” 

“ Not alive ! ” echoed Jaques and Eli. Then 
we loaded up the big gun, lighted the slow- 
match and stood ready to fire it when best oc- 
35 6 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


casion offered. There were other guns, of course : 
culverins and demi-culverins in the broadside 
batteries, but we could not fire them without 
broaching to or falling off, and hence losing 
precious time. So upon the Long Tom depended 
our salvation, perchance we were in danger of 
being overhauled. All through the remainder 
of the night we stood by the gun, taking watch 
and watch, one off at a time for sleep and two 
on. 

The dawn of morning found us in the Carib- 
bean Sea and heading a northerly course for 
the isle of Tortuga. A short gunshot astern 
was the foremost of our three pursuers, with the 
second and the third close after her. We knew, 
from the dogged manner in which they held 
their course, so persistently and silently, without 
e’er losing a moment to essay a shot at us, that 
the master of each vessel had instructions to 
take us alive, and for what purpose — to be tor- 
tured, to wit — we knew full well. 

Shortly after daylight broke, the senorita 
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FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


came on deck, and made directly for tlie gun 
where I was standing. I saw her not, for at 
that moment occurred the chance for which I 
had been watching since the dawning, viz., the 
foremost vessel yawed widely from her course, 
with the slant of her bows presenting a most 
fair mark for my aim. I could scarce refrain 
from shouting for joy, as I ran my eye over the 
breech of my gun and applied the match to the 
vent. And the big iron ball went straight for 
the mark, striking the doomed ship well ’twixt 
wind and water. It must have loosened some 
planks, I trow, for there seemed to be an imme- 
diate inrush of water. The vessel shivered like 
a whale struck by a lance, and eftsoon was 
down by the head and evidently a-sinking, 
with immense confusion manifest on board. 

“Hit her that time! She ’s a goner, sure’s 
fighting !” shouted Eli, who had been asleep 
under the taffrail, and was awakened by the 
shot. “That’s give us a chance to leave ’em 
all hull down before this day is ended, and by 
358 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


evening of tlie next we ought to sight Tor- 
tuga.” 

Turning around, I met the senorita’s gaze 
fixed full upon me, and in her great black eyes 
such soulful admiration that my cheeks went 
hot and red with the blood that rushed into 
them. Were there no other reward than her 
praise, I would have gone through flood and 
fire to win that praise. 

“ Nobly done, friend Humphrey/’ she said, 
extending her hand. “ Another shot like that 
and I shall feel quite sure of seeing my dear kin 
again.” 

“ That you shall do, I trust, and soon, what- 
e’er betide,” I answered. “ See, our noble sail- 
ors have every sail set and drawing, and look at 
the wake of foam behind our rudder.” 

“ Yes, and look at the pirate ship you shot 
at,” she rejoined. “ Truly, the waves all but 
break over her; only the castle top is clear of 
them. Ah, that too is plunging under. Yes, 
and the masts careen. Look! Look quickly, 

23 — For Prey and Spoils. •? q g 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


for the ship is about to plunge into its ocean 
grave!” 

And it was even so. Hardly had she finished 
ere the sea had closed over the vessel. 

“ But two now are left,” she said. “ Will 
those pursue us?” 

“ Till the death/’ I answered, looking at her 
steadily. 

“And will they catch us?” 

“ I do not know, but trow not.” 

“ But if they catch us, Humphrey. If they 
do?” 

She clutched me by the sleeve. Her eyes 
dilated. I saw in them the look that once be- 
fore I beheld when she made me promise to kill 
her rather than allow her to be taken by the 
pirates. 

“They must not; they shall not!” I ex- 
claimed, passionately. “Rather than that we 
will drive our vessel under water and all go 
down together; we will scuttle and sink her 
before their very eyes.” 

36° 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


“ That will do, friend Humphrey. Better 
that than be taken. But not till the last mo- 
ment, though. I do so want to see my papa 
and my sister.” 

“And you shall,” I answered her, “if it lies 
in us to accomplish it.” 

“ I am content, dear friend,” she replied most 
sweetly, as if I had promised her a gift already 
within my grasp. “ I know that you and these 
good men will do all that lies within the power 
of men to do.” 

And, sooth, so did we. Suffice it that the 
third afternoon we sighted the cliffs of Tortuga, 
and at the same time the two remaining pirate 
ships also hove in view, still keeping in our 
wake and still determined to make us prisoners. 
Now, Eli and old Jaques and I had talked it 
over seriously, and made resolve to touch in at 
Tortuga, e’en had we to risk our very lives for it. 
But how to do it, and how to apprise our friends 
there in waiting of our coming and have them 
ready, was the problem. Every hour, yea, every 
3 61 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


moment, was now most precious, for not long 
would it take the pirate vessels to overhaul us, 
sailing as they were. 

I then recalled that at parting I had said to 
John, half jestingly as it were, “ Perchance I 
can escape these pirates, I will return in my 
own ship and take thee off to our own country; 
hut thou must be ready.” 

“And what shall be the signal?” he queried, 
fully believing me capable of any adventure, be 
it never so great. It must be remembered that 
it was at the setting out of the expedition for 
Porto Bello that we had this conversation, and 
nothing in the world seemed less likely than 
that I should ever return in my own ship, 
scarce indeed return at all. Yet here I was, if 
not in my own ship, at least in one that was 
under my command. And I then recalled that 
I had said: “John, keep thine ears open for 
three signal guns, at minute intervals, and when 
thou hearest them haste thee to the shore with all 
thy belongings, for I shall then be off the har- 

362 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 

bor, and perchance there may be an enemy in 
pursuit, and no time to waste.’ ’ 

And it was agreed that we would chance it on 
John’s recalling this pact between us and fire 
the guns, peradventure he would heed the signal 
and haste from the cave to the harbor, where 
we might take him, and whomsoever might be 
with him, on the voyage with as small delay as 
possible. And so we did. We fired three cul- 
verins of the starboard battery, at minute inter- 
vals, as we rounded the point and sighted the 
opening to the harbor. But, reader, our hearts 
were in our throats, as it were, for fear he would 
not hear, or, hearing, heed not the signal ; for 
the pirate vessels were in full chase, and no 
great distance separated us by this. To sail into 
the harbor would be to entrap ourselves for the 
pirates’ pleasure, for of a verity there would not 
be time to pick up our passengers and sail out 
again. This was why our hearts were in our 
throats as we made the entrance to the channel 
and swept the shore with our telescopic glasses, 
3 6 3 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


hoping we might see our friends. No one was 
in sight upon the strand. All was desolate, 
apparently, and our hearts sank as we turned 
and gazed each into the others’ faces. But sud- 
denly an Indian on the watch at the mast-head 
shouted out: “ Un buque , un buque /” — “A boat, 
a boat!” And there it was, in the centre of the 
harbor, having been hidden from our view by a 
protruding coral reef, and in the boat — ah, yes, 
who were those in the boat? They might be 
friends, they might be enemies; but there were 
four, just the number of our friends whom we 
had left in the cave. And the senorita’s eyes, 
sharpened perchance by love, saw that two of 
them were those she was so longing for to behold, 
and cried out, and threw her arms around my 
shoulders, where her lovely head sank for the 
space of a moment, so overcome was she with 
joy and a- trembling with the shock of it. 

So we stood off and on at the harbor mouth, 
and eventually the boat came up with us. We 
cast them a rope, drew them aboard without 
364 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


much ado, and after them their boat, in sooth, 
and then shook out our sails and sped away 
again. This delay, short as it was, had enabled 
the pirate vessels to gain the channel entrance, 
or quite near to it, so there seemed a fight on our 
hands at once. But we had a heart for it now, 
for we had on board the ones for whom we had 
risked so much, and one-half the battle was 
won. Yet was our cruise barely begun, for there 
was nothing for it now but to undertake the 
long voyage for Spain. 

“Espafta ! Espana ! ” shouted the sailors — 
“to Spain, to Spain” — as the galleon swung 
around and leaped forward on her course. But 
there lay the enemy, right in the road — to wit, 
the pirate vessels, one each side the channel — 
and Spain yet thousands of miles away! 

“ Drive her straight ahead,” shouted Eli to 
the helmsman, and, though he may not have un- 
derstood the language, the Indian knew just 
what was wanted. The galleon went lumbering 
through the channel midway, deviating no whit. 

3 6 5 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


“ Man the batteries ! ” yelled Eli, and most of 
us, including two of the new arrivals and three 
of the crew, ranged ourselves on each side the 
ship. The culverins were not large and they 
were old, but they were loaded to the muzzle, 
and we resolved to give the pirates some parting 
shots, e’en went we down to the bottom of the 
sea immediately after. Each of us held a lighted 
match, and at the word, “ Starboard battery,” 
from Eli, out spake the culverins most bravely, 
their roar being followed by the crashing of tim- 
bers as the shots went home. The larboard 
battery followed, with the same result ; but by 
now the enemy found his tongue and came bark- 
ing back at us, evidently resolved that the 
chance for capturing us was a fleeting one, and 
to sink us was the only recourse now. Both 
pirate vessels plied their guns most rapidly and 
the galleon was well peppered ; but there were 
no casualties among our crew. As we drew 
ahead and brought our stern gun to bear we gave 

366 



“ WE CAST THEM A ROPE 


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BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


them better than they sent, and so held them in 
check until quite out of range. 

“ Guess they won’t foller us any further,” said 
Eli, watching the splashes in the water astern, 
growing less frequent and further off at each 
report. “ Them fellers know when they ’ve had 
enough, and they ain’t hankering for any more, 
jest let me tell you, Hump. Go aft now and 
greet your friends ; for sooth, you hain’t even 
said a word to John or the Don, let alone the 
lovely senoritas.” 

So I sought the castle-cabin, where I found 
the Don and John had recently preceded me, 
and there had my reward, yea, and much more, 
in the way of thanks than I was entitled to. 
Events had pressed upon us so quickly at the 
coming aboard of our friends that I had not had 
a chance to speak to any one of them, but now 
that the great peril was passed there was ample 
time for conversation, had we been so minded. 
John rushed into my arms at once I appeared 
in the cabin, forestalling the Don, who was not 
367 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


to be thus outdone and embraced us both. Then 
he took me by the hand and led me in front of 
his daughters, who were yet locked in each 
other’s arms and bestowing mutual caresses. 

It mattereth not what the Don said nor what 
the senoritas said and did, for in the excess of 
their gratitude they ascribed to me their salva- 
tion from the pirates ; though I protested that 
but for Eli and old Jaques all my efforts might 
have come to naught. It was Eli who planned 
and Jaques and I who but assisted, and I was 
fain to go in search of my friends to have them 
share the honors with me — which they flatly re- 
fused to do. 

“ We hain’t done nothing more ’n our duty,” 
declared Eli, and Jaques assented with a “ Oui, 
zat is all, eet was a plaisir to die for ze charming 
ladies, and yet we not have zat plaisir. Zey owe 
us nozings.” 

Still, the Don and his daughters were not to 
be appeased by our protestations. They insisted 
that we should go with them to their castle at 
368 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


Eon da and stay there with them for at least a 
year ; but Eli and Jaques declared this to be impos- 
sible, for they had the ship and the Indian sailors 
to care for. Arrived at the white-walled city of 
Cadiz, however — which port we made in due 
season, thanks to the Indians, who sailed the 
galleon with their wonted skill — John and I 
finally assented to accompany the Del Mars to 
their castle. First, however, we had to arrange 
with the Lake-Dwellers to stay by the galleon 
until the salvages on it were adjusted, the king’s 
fifth of the treasure exacted, and all claims paid. 
After the aforesaid king’s fifth — as it was called 
— of the treasure aboard was taken out there 
remained a goodly sum represented by perhaps 
two hundred thousand pounds, which fell due to 
myself, John, Eli and Jaques, as virtually the 
salvors of the ship and contents. This we agreed 
to divide equally, after paying to the Indians 
what share they might demand — they having 
saved the ship — leaving to each of us not less 
than thirty thousand pounds apiece. 

369 


FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


I had almost forgotten to mention what John 
confided to me: to wit, that he and the Don had 
amused themselves during our absence on the 
Porto Bello expedition in searching out the 
hiding-places of the buccaneer treasure on the 
island of Tortuga, and had accumulated, proba- 
bly, to the value of at least two million pounds, 
which they had secreted in the cave. Before 
leaving Tortuga, even in the haste of departure, 
which allowed them scarce time to gather a few 
essential things together, John had bethought 
himself to close and conceal the exit from the 
cave, so that it was as good as sealed up, against 
the time when we might, perchance, return and 
break it open. 

“And, Humphrey, we will some time return 
for that treasure, will we not?” John frequently 
plead with me. To which I answered full oft, 
“ In God’s time.” And in sooth we did return, 
a year later, in the galleon, which the Court of 
Claims adjudged to belong to us by right of 
capture ; and, by the aid of the Indian sailors, 
37 ° 


BETTER DIE A-FIGHTING 


made a most successful voyage, full of wonderful 
adventures. We found the treasure in the cave, 
of a verity, and we found other things ; but not 
to be narrated here, as I feel this my story 
should be nearing its end. 

Suffice it that, after the court at Cadiz had 
released our ship and declared us true friends of 
Spain and entitled to high rewards for our ser- 
vices against her enemies, the buccaneers, John 
and I set off with the Del Mars for their castle, 
which is situate at Honda, in the erstwhile Moor- 
ish country of Spain, amid the crags and hills. 

And it is here, after many years, in my room in 
the high tower of the castle, that I have indited 
this my narrative of strange adventures whilst I 
was perforce a buccaneer. There be, doubtless, 
many defects in it, since my hand is not given 
to the setting down of what my brain conceives, 
and if at times I have been rambling and dis- 
jointed in my narrative, dear reader (perchance 
there ever be one), kindly ascribe it to the 
proper cause, viz. : the writer’s lack of skill. 

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FOR PREY AND SPOILS 


I would fain have treated more at length of 
my dear brother by adoption, John, and detail 
whatever happened to him while he had that 
wearisome waiting in the cave ; but it hath so 
fallen out that the story hath shaped itself as it 
is herewith given, and I cannot change it with- 
out much painful overhauling. It seemeth to 
me a curious happening that we were thrown 
together, as we were, into the company of those 
men of blood, the buccaneers, and obliged to 
pass through scenes foreign to any we would 
have chosen, — to recall which, e’en now, causeth 
me to shudder at the recollection. But, wliat- 
e’er betide me in the future, I know that both 
past and future are the ordering of God, who, 
in His wise foreknowledge, maketh man an 
instrument for the shaping of His plans. 

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